Don't Ask Your Friends and Family What They Think About Trump.

 

It really doesn't matter. It's like asking them what they think about peanut butter or a virus. Really! 

The cabal who put Trump, Fox News, White Supremacy on front pages are not interested in the health and well-being of democracy or in the pain you suffer or in your dreams for a better future. They are not interested in truth, justice, art, music or the weather. They are not interested in whether this organized human world will survive or not. 

Ask your family, friends and neighbours,  how they are today. Really how they are. Ask them about the thoughts and feelings they have that they don't want to talk about. Ask them what they wish for in the coming year. Ask them what ails them at this moment. A headache? Insomnia? Indigestion? What do they worry about most? What has become clear to them lately?

This may lead to finding out what news source they value most or what book they are reading, or what art project they are working on. Avoid judgement. Avoid confirmation and putting their answers in the context of popular opinion. Avoid cliches like "oh that's interesting."

Keep it open. Explore deeper if you can. Make eye contact. Listen as though your neighbour is the greatest expert in your neighbourhood. If they offer opinions on 'others' or make generalizations, ask where they learned that opinion or admit that you don't see it that way.

We humans have so many centuries of prejudices, so much harm has been done to our curiosity by group conditioning. Our first ten or twenty years didn't encourage us to examine our beliefs and it is so much easier to hold onto privilege by manufacturing common beliefs or laying out correct beliefs. But now I hunger for belonging, for peaceful community, and the freedom to inquire.