My Grandma & Your Grandma
Unpopular Opinions, AKA How to Lose Subscribers
This will be my first post to the Swamp community. It may also be my last. If you're a friend of mine on this platform at the moment, you've probably noticed that I don't usually comment on political threads, either. There's a reason I don't spend time in this arena and this morning is a fine example.
I'm not disinterested in politics. I'm disinterested in hypocrisy, and sadly, it tends to pop up in political posts, regardless of which “side” they're intended to support. Allow me to present a couple of examples that have come up in the early hours of the aftermath of the election.
The first was particularly sad for me. A creator that I followed posted an article that told any readers that voted for Trump or voted “none of the above” to “get the hell off my feed.” I'm not in either of those groups, but I did that creator a favor and unsubscribed. Ironically, that did nothing to “get me off their feed.” If they want me off their feed, they have an Unsubscribe button of their own.
I'm not trying to ridicule that person. Judging from their writing, they're intelligent, and definitely capable of rational thought. What came through in that statement, in my opinion, was the unbridled anger and fear the election results triggered in a creator who's an open member of the LGBTQ community. What troubled me about it was the choice to lash out with the same hatred they accuse the right wingers of displaying.
A second creator whose work I follow closely used their article to throw out strings of stereotypical labels about right-wingers. Here's a little tidbit for them: I'm one of those “old white people” and I'm not racist, sexist, homophobic or an asshole (although I certainly know how to be the last item on that list, if it's called for). I'm also not affiliated with either party. Oh, and I'm heterosexual, and if you read that as anti-LGBTQ, you're very wrong and part of the problem.
I'm a “old white guy” with a quadruple bypass who's drawing SSI retirement, enrolled in Medicare, and still can't afford to quit working or go see a doctor. Why? Because our system is broken, and the results of this election would NOT have fixed it, regardless of who won. It's going to take much more than a change of figurehead to get this ship back on course.
Incidentally, I'm going to add that I also live in the state that voted in our government's first openly LGBTQ member of Congress. Don't forget to put that in your book.
So, enough about me. Consider this, kids: The USA is not run by its President. It's run by We, The People. Unfortunately, We, The People are too busy fighting amongst themselves to change the status quo, and that's exactly what the real “powers that be” want.
I'm not saying we should all hold hands and sing Kumbaya. I'm saying it's time to stop singing Iko Iko (I'm gonna' set your flag on fire - see the video above) because we see things differently. Our Constitutional Republic guarantees each of us the right to do so. You be you. I'll be me.
Let's start focusing on fixing the problem. It isn't going to change with language like “Orange Man”, “Sleepy Joe", “Kamabla” or "Get the hell off my feed." Rise above, people. As creators, we have a powerful skill and an audience on this platform. I've probably lost half of my audience with this piece, and that's okay. If you can't stand reading a different point of view without melting down, feel free to use that button. You don't even have to wait for the results.
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Author's Note: Please note that I have avoided name dropping, name calling, and the use of potentially offensive pronuouns. Thank you for your time.
About the Creator
Dana Crandell
Dad, Stepdad, Grandpa, Husband, lover of Nature and dogs.
Poet, Writer, Editor, Photographer, Artist and Tech/Internet nerd.
My first published poetry collection: Life, Love & Ludicrosity
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Comments (13)
Congratulations for the Honorable Mention for Most Discussed Stories with this piece on this week's leaderboard. Well done.
Congrats on being mentioned on the Leaderboard!! That's how I found this story. I am an old white guy too. I am a member of the LGBTQ community... although for most of my life you would never have known that. I'm bisexual. I was with a woman for 20+ years until she passed away. I never felt any need to discuss the fact I'm bisexual until I fell madly in love with a man (something I never dreamed would happen.) No election in my lifetime has ever upset me more. It's like we elected Al Capone. I'm shocked (Pun intended). I disagree with you. **I** think this election had the potential to fix a whole lot! Our country is supposed to be "Representative Government." Black people have only been represented once, and Republicans did everything in their power to stop it. We have never been represented by a woman. As a Representative Government, we FAIL. Conservatives always say the fact some candidates are women means nothing. I see it as an added qualification on their job app. I know so many common households that are basically run by the wife, not the husband, and whenever a woman is put in charge, her style of management is completely different than a man's. A Democrat lost-- no big deal. A criminal won-- a huge deal. A woman could have won and, once again, didn't? That's almost worse than electing a criminal who tried to overthrow the government to placate his own bruised ego. The differences are stark. Why do conservatives turn out in droves to prevent women from winning? Hey... maybe you are correct, Sir, that nothing would have been fixed. But we'll never know, will we? Once again, as always, we're led by old white guys like us. THIS old white guy longs for the day when white guys aren't even in the running. Eventually white people will be in the minority in this country; I think around the year 2050. God Speed the Day.
Isn't it sad that we expect to lose subscribers because of a well-reasoned, balanced, and compassionate point of view? That says a lot about where we're at these days. I miss the days when polite company knew not to discuss politics and religion, i.e., to read the room and recognize that people get unreasonable in those arenas, most importantly, ourselves. Self-awareness breeds wisdom, I've found, lol. I am surrounded by people who lack the ability to be empathetic, calm and reasoned when it comes to politics. My husband likes to say that if you "can't understand" the other side, that's the problem. You raise an excellent point, Dana, one that I wish people could understand. Apparently the bigger picture is not so easy to see, even with a clearly written perspective. I applaud you for writing this.
Ah man, I was hoping you'll drop the names of those creators, lol. Jokes aside, I believe that we should always be ready to agree to disagree. Be mature adults
Beware.Incoming rant. I've never paid much attention to American politics before Obama. Even then, I didn't really. I just thought he was a good man and I liked him. When Trump appeared on the horizon, I thought it was a joke. I thought there's no way Americans would vote him. Then I thought there was no way they'd vote for him again. I don't even know what to say at this point. I'd never hate people for who they vote for. I have voted liberal, conservative, and socialist in the past and am not beholden to any party. It's just that I don't understand how anyone can choose, for their leader, someone so obviously lacking in morals and empathy, and criminal to boot. I don't hate his voters, but I do hate that they voted for him and I truly don't get it. It makes me feel like they don't care about their fellow citizens, and that saddens me. End rant.
No secret how I wanted this to go. I haven’t read much today but took some comments I’d made to others today and turned them into a thing. Like you, my husband’s great big heart is making its feelings known and I am helpless to do much but wait along with him as we see what that means. I did a double shift of non- partisan poll work yesterday- making sure everyone that could vote did. Then I signed the forms and here we are. I dunno- sorry for the long comment. Love you.
I might recognize a creator…. As an outsider, I was still caught up in the election, I mean after 750 plus days or how ever long the campaign was it felt like the final episode. You did a nice unbiased but honest view with this article
We all have our opinions. I too am one of those ‘old white people.’ Recently retired, no medicaid/medicare available for 3 more years…. Etc., etc. Like you I have friends and family all over the political and social map. I am a heterosexual whose dearest and best lifelong friend was a gay black man (‘was’because he passed away a few years ago). I have a lesbian daughter. So… homophobic?… I certainly don’t think so. … All that aside…, as I said, we all have our opinions. We also all have a right to have them. We also have the right to respect the opinions of others. I will never tell someone to “get off my feed”because they voted for the other person. It’s ridiculous. So… Thank you for posting this. It needs to be said.
I really appreciated this post, Dana. I’ll start off with how much I loved the inclusion of kumbaya and iko iko, now that’s some rhetoric I can respect! Second, I agree that as creators we hold a lot of power and that responsibility should not be taken lightly. Lastly, I don’t post in Swamp and I don’t usually read stuff in Swamp either due to the same source of disinterest that you mentioned. But the title of this caught my eye and I’m glad I clicked. I’m also not affiliated with a party and I have friends and family all over the political map so the hate that pours in from all sides is oftentimes overwhelming. All that to say it lifted my spirits to read a call to rise above instead of more fiery darts aiming at another camp’s flag
Am not a US citizen, but regardless people and politicians need to come together and respect -just respect ,that everyone has a different view ans style. No matter where one comes from.
You know I was never going to unsubscribe. Even if we didn't agree etc. And like Matthew and LC both said better than me. I feel for people that side of the Atlantic, because I hold onto the thought that because we have a left-ish government in power things might be smoother for us. But, it's not that easy as that. Anyway, the bottom line is, you're stuck with me. LUCKY YOU, Dana. And look, you made me comment on a Swamp piece.
Politicians tend to be differently awful, rather than "better" or "worse".
No sub lost here. What's been bothering me is how everything seemed to devolve into a game of "I know you are but what am I". Good government requires nuance, debate, negotiation, and I feel like anything that required more than a 15 second tik tok was immediately a losing position. I fear that reductivism is driving the worldwide backlash against incumbency.