New York Times vs Breitbart News
I live outside of the US. Like most non-Americans, the shock loss of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and of Donald J. Trump’s ascension to the presidency, has been of fascination since. Trump’s win in the US election overtook another hot water cooler topic at the office, Brexit. Yup, even Brexit couldn’t overshadow the results of the 2016 US electoral college.
My phone hit NY Times’ and Breitbart’s servers on my commute home during those 4 years. And I received many long, forwarded articles about the evils of the previous administration and how Trump vowed to Make America Great Again. Trump left. Trump right. Trump everywhere.
I think I was just trying to get a grasp of this new torrent of change. Alternative Facts. Fake News. All the drama coming out of the White House, and the ascension to power of Donald Trump’s family members. SNL. Fact checks. Populism. Travel bans. The Wall. #MeToo. Rebuking NATO, EU and allies. Wow. It was full on. It was like a tourist visiting Las Vegas for the first time.
It was also draining.
And how it continued to affect me, in a very personal sense, thousands of miles, on the other side of the world. My family members complained about how long I spent reading about Trump’s moves both in the domestic and international space. I fell sick many times, due to my immune system being compromised by a lack of sleep. I read too much of this stuff in the dead of night. (The dishes were finally washed, at the wee hours of the morning.) I also suffered massive paper losses in my stock portfolio as the major powers slugged it out in the tariff arena. And I found myself screaming at my children, probably due to the stress that lack of sleep brought on.
US politics. It is truly mind boggling.
And I was intrigued by the people who put President Trump in power (and believed in his capabilities). I found out that they weren’t just disenfranchised working class people of a certain race. They spanned all shades of melanin. They spanned the classes across the social and economic spectrum of the US. They also spanned the world. My relatives, who live outside of America, talked up Trump during many video chats. My friends and pastors, who live far away from Washington, talked up Trump (and Fox News, then) during coffee catch ups, and over social media. There were fresh fears in op-ed pieces, in the media, about a populist uprising across the world, inspired by Trump. There was, and still is, anger, very clear anger, easily felt in the comments sections, of both NY Times and Breitbart.
Now that there is a transition of power, I reflect on the time, energy and resources I have invested in this. I will say this — there were always pros and cons that came out of this. Good things and bad. Benefits and disadvantages. I’m learning for to be thankful for the good things that have happened. And the bad stuff, the misunderstanding, disrespect and fear that continues to divide not just the US but the rest of the world, that’s also instructive, in the sense that it is something I should stay away from. I should be trying to do the opposite, to be a lot more respectful and understanding. To work on kindness. To focus on issues. To celebrate the strengths of others, rather than to harp on their weaknesses. To be more empathetic.
To listen and observe more. Much, much more.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some candlestick graphs to observe. And children to listen, and read to.
And a smart phone to put away.
And, yes, dishes to wash.
“VP-BDJ — Donald Trump Boeing 727” by AndrewC75 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
