In previous posts I’ve suggested that many people take politics waaaaay too seriously. And yet I’m still seeing lots of articles about how people are depressed because of the recent election. People, stop thinking with your reptilian brains!
1. I didn’t see lots of people going around the US moping when Duterte got elected in the Philippines. That country only has 1/3 of the US population, but Duterte is easily three times worse than Trump. So that election result was just as bad.
2. And don’t say “but the Philippines is not my country.” That’s Trump talk. Stop being so nationalistic and start viewing every human being as having equal worth.
3. And don’t say that you are going to personally suffer because of Trump. If you are reading this blog then you are probably not homeless, which means your living standards are among the highest the world has ever seen. That won’t change. Your happiness will depend on how you get along with your friends and family and co-workers, plus your disposition (upbeat or melancholy) and your physical health. Trump doesn’t affect that.
4. You are depressed because you are engaging in primitive thought. Trump upsets you much more than that maniac governor of Maine, because you wrongly think that Trump is “your leader”. That’s the kind of thinking I expect from uneducated peasants in Turkmenistan or New Guinea. He’s not your leader and he’s not my header, he’s a public servant who works for you. A government employee. Stop thinking of Trump as your leader and start thinking of him in the way the average Swiss person views the faceless bureaucrat who happens to have the top government job in that lucky country.
5. “But the alt-right . . . “. Look, you are upset because you (correctly) think that Trump will be a lousy President. That failure will tend to discredit the alt-right.
6. “But didn’t you say the election of Trump was a disgrace?” Yes, I did, but disgraceful things happen every day in politics. Arizona voters refused to legalize pot. You don’t get upset by all the other disgraceful things, so why are you so upset about Trump?
7. “But the Supreme Court . . . ”
Please, just stop.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and don’t argue with your relatives at the dinner table.