Things are bad. REALLY bad. But we need to chill out.
Right now it seems like every day, the Trump administration does something terrible that we need be outraged about. But that’s only because every day, the Trump administration is doing something terrible that we need to be outraged about. There are legitimate threats to our democracy as we know it, and the Trump administration has acted swiftly to bring about as many changes as it can in a very short amount of time.
What is important for all of us to realize is that this is deliberate and intentional. These actions are not irrational or reckless. These are the actions of an administration that is working to undermine our voting rights, discredit our voices, and spread confusion on what the very meaning of “truth” is.
We need to stop thinking that Trump is a big baby, a stupid idiot, a buffoon who spouts off whatever he’s thinking and that he can’t control himself. Have you noticed that every one of his distracting Twitter tirades has happened simultaneously to the press questioning him or his staff on something that he didn’t want to answer? This is not a coincidence. Last week, he sent Sean Spicer on the first cartoonish press conference to debate the size of his inauguration crowd in order to distract from the historic Women’s Marches around the world. And it worked. The press has taken the bait, over and over since Trump declared his candidacy. Trump is a media mastermind and has manipulated the spotlight on himself all the way to the top of our country.
Keep paying attention. Notice how he sent Kellyanne Conway to dispute “alternative facts” instead of talking policy. Everyone freaks out and no one is noticing the executive orders that have been signed taking away our hard-fought freedoms. This is classic misdirection. Trump’s “complaining” about the media is not him being a big baby. This is a thought-out attempt to discredit what we know to be true. This is undermining how we perceive news. These are not stupid people.
But neither are we.
What makes us stupid is being in a constant state of fear. What happens to our brains when we’re feeling intense fear or outrage is that our cognition shuts off, making us hyper focused on survival — essentially turning us into focused, driven, survivalist beings. This “fight or flight” affect happens even when there is a perceived threat to our safety. The stress can also bring about a “freeze” response, which is probably why so many of us have felt paralyzed and overwhelmed in the last ten days.
This reaction is the desired result of a regime working to paralyze us as a people. An administration who has already manipulated 30% of the population with fake news and Russian-funded propaganda is now manipulating the rest of us by constantly creating a perceived threat to our safety. They are creating so many things to fight against that they’re counting on us getting fatigued and overwhelmed and giving up.
We cannot let that happen.
We cannot let ourselves become overwhelmed and fatigued and frozen.
We need to continue to fight for our freedom and fight for our democracy. In less than two years, we will be voting in the midterm elections. We need to be smart enough to be able to take back the House and Senate for the people. We need to stay focused and driven. We need to work to make sure our voting rights aren’t further dismantled in order to make sure that our votes count.
In order to do all of this, we must chill.
We have to relax. We have to keep fighting, but we have to be calm. We can be angry, but we don’t need to let our anger blind us so much that we can’t see or hear what’s going on. We need to stay informed — not fall for every click bait trick of the Trump administration. They’re going to keep saying irrational and embarrassing things that go against our core values. Don’t fall for it. Decent people know that what they’re saying is crazy- we don’t need to participate in the echo chamber of the 5 minute Trump news cycle.
Pick your battles. Pay attention to what matters — policy changes, discriminatory laws, suppression of journalism and human rights.
Above all else- take care of yourself. We need you strong, healthy, and using your rational thinking mind. We need you on the battlefields standing up for humanity. The fate of our civilization depends upon it.
