Why I am working for an administration I do not support.
It happened, the thing we thought would never happen. Trumpity Trump dump. Even the name has become a curse word to some. But I am not here to work for him. I am here to work for the American idea that freedom of choice is a human right, that liberation is necessary, and that democracy is justice. I do not serve the man--or any other single man--but I serve common ideas of human decency that reaching out a hand to our neighbor is the fastest way to eliminate ignorance. We Americans originally chose to revolt for what we believed to be right, and we will continue to do so. We stand for freedom to choose in public and private life, and we need to choose to fight to keep our diversity rather than destroy it. Our history was based off of immigrants who get the job done, some were forced here and some believe that this is the promised land of opportunity. Because of this, we have a culture that is a beautifully complicated mess of identities and I love seeing that we choose to fight to get all of them represented (and I recognize that as a white woman I can do better.)
I chose to work for the Peace Corps (among many reasons) as an act of protest against isolationism, ignorance, and xenophobia. I am abroad as a federal employee to further the tenants of person-to-person peace building, and that this form of diplomacy works. Every day I've heard stories of children who had contact with PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who became Prime Ministers, engineers, and/or community organizers because they simply got to know someone who had the position to show them something new and different. This is America to me--the ability to experience the new and different; whether it is a local business started by a refugee family or the ability to study abroad for 9 months. Now my lifestyle is living among people with whom I cannot communicate, but somehow am able to show that I love by simply sitting in their presence. No single man can take this from me, nor from the 200,000 American volunteers before me who were just as dedicated to seeing a better world.
And the fact that our democracy has shown that actually anyone can be elected, it is up to us to be that person. It shows us that our work as representatives and volunteers in the harshest of conditions is even more important. We must begin organizing, running for office ourselves and take ownership of what our system is supposed to be. Trump is now our serving president. May he not fail, because if he royally messes up our economy and environment then so do we. We know that he has already messed up social issues, but that is also on the people we interact with on a day to day basis. So lets keep taking to the streets, keep making donations to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence's name, and keep having tough conversations. If he is not your president, then find the issue on which he fails that is most important to you and become the president of that thing, empower others to do the same, and for God's sake please be nice to your neighbor. Not everyone who reads this may agree with my politics, but I hope you will agree with my love for what America is supposed to be.
It is We the People who must recognize that in order to form a more perfect union, we must treat one another with human dignity and respect, and recognize that we can do better. America must be amended, and we are the ones to do it.
I chose to work for the Peace Corps (among many reasons) as an act of protest against isolationism, ignorance, and xenophobia. I am abroad as a federal employee to further the tenants of person-to-person peace building, and that this form of diplomacy works. Every day I've heard stories of children who had contact with PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who became Prime Ministers, engineers, and/or community organizers because they simply got to know someone who had the position to show them something new and different. This is America to me--the ability to experience the new and different; whether it is a local business started by a refugee family or the ability to study abroad for 9 months. Now my lifestyle is living among people with whom I cannot communicate, but somehow am able to show that I love by simply sitting in their presence. No single man can take this from me, nor from the 200,000 American volunteers before me who were just as dedicated to seeing a better world.
And the fact that our democracy has shown that actually anyone can be elected, it is up to us to be that person. It shows us that our work as representatives and volunteers in the harshest of conditions is even more important. We must begin organizing, running for office ourselves and take ownership of what our system is supposed to be. Trump is now our serving president. May he not fail, because if he royally messes up our economy and environment then so do we. We know that he has already messed up social issues, but that is also on the people we interact with on a day to day basis. So lets keep taking to the streets, keep making donations to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence's name, and keep having tough conversations. If he is not your president, then find the issue on which he fails that is most important to you and become the president of that thing, empower others to do the same, and for God's sake please be nice to your neighbor. Not everyone who reads this may agree with my politics, but I hope you will agree with my love for what America is supposed to be.
It is We the People who must recognize that in order to form a more perfect union, we must treat one another with human dignity and respect, and recognize that we can do better. America must be amended, and we are the ones to do it.
Bravo!!
ReplyDeleteI saw that Hamilton reference
ReplyDelete