The New Normal
Has the Donald Trump Administration changed us at our core?
Over the last eight to ten months there was a term that became mainstream. The term, “the new normal” was by no means invented in 2020, but it became much more prominent. With this came fear and pushback surrounding it’s details. People did not want the “new normal”. They did not want to wear a mask indefinitely, be unable to go to work or send their kids to school. They wanted to visit their families, have gatherings on holidays, and distract themselves from the world we live in. They wanted to enjoy the good parts of life. Unfortunately, for over 230,000 Americans they would not have the luxury of complaining about these things. As the months wore on many things became clear. One of them being that this would in fact be the new normal for some time. Now though, as we enter the winter it appears that the new normal has gone on the wayside to the election. As more states report, it looks as though Biden has a very promising shot at becoming the next President of the United States. This would most likely improve our situation with COVID-19. However, this to me raises an even more horrific question. Will this heated political and social climate also become, “the new normal”?
For the last four years this nation has found itself bitterly divided down the party lines. Relationships, careers, and more ruined in the name of partisanship. For those who can remember this, which feels like a century ago, there was a time when things were not like this. Sure, people had their differences politically, but that was only considered a personality trait. Not their overall personality as it has become now. People either chose not to make it their personality, or others simply didn’t care. Somewhere along the way, both parties became so radical in the others view that political affiliation became a judgement on a persons character. This logic is flawed as it is subjective to each person individually. If you say that your favorite Star Wars films are the most recent episodes 7,8, and 9 I’m going to think you have poor taste in film. I will not, however, doubt your character based on this. There are obviously exceptions to this such as racism, to name just one. The problem lies in that most political conversations never get that far. If you tell a conservative you are a liberal they will most likely immediately label you a “snowflake” or something of the sort. On the other hand, when a conservative tells a liberal their stance they are instantly labeled racist, among other things. We aren’t even taking the time to get to know one another. We’re basing our entire character judgement off of just one trait. Which is wrong and unfair to each other, not matter which side of this argument you land on.
More than any of the possible coming changes in policy from the executive branch, I hope for only one thing — that this way of conducting ourselves may be reversed. At the very least, scaled back a bit. People blame late night shows and celebrities for bringing up politics. A counter point I often make to that, especially with late night shows is that they follow pop culture. Well, for the last four years pop culture has been tied to politics by the hip. The reason this is so relevant in pop culture is the people. For obvious reasons we the people, or in this case we the consumer, shape what is popular culture. If we want things to change and politics to take more of a backseat as it used to, it starts with the people. With a new administration, one that doesn’t belittle its opponents, it becomes much more possible for our country to heal and begin to love each other again. It is only a step in the right direction however. Ultimately if current projections are correct and Biden is in fact our new POTUS conservatives must make a choice. They have a choice of taking the high road, acting professional and with class in loss. Or, and unfortunately this may be more likely, they have the option of continuing down the road of hate and conspiracy theories. The latter is by far the most alarming thing we face right now.
I fear that if we do not begin to heal and bridge our peoples divide in the next four years that this will in fact become our, “new normal”.
