The events that have transpired in the States has made it difficult for me, this morning, to engage with the trials and failings of the characters in my book. While their issues seem large to themselves, they seem insignificant to me right now in the face of the outcome of the American Election. It’s a system that has been broken for a while and seems to me to have now reached the pinnacle of that status. But this is also on the coattails of what is happening with global warming, the ill-informed decisions in Britain, of an economy that sees so many unemployed – so many concerns on what type of world my children are growing up in.
I have many thoughts on what has transpired, on what is broken with democracy right now in Western Society, on what is working – and not – in the Canadian parliamentary system. I could write reams, watch the angry tweets wash over me (as they do) and see short, angry comments (as you do). But I find that any words I have to say are futile – at least right now. I am just sad and angry and frustrated for my American friends and what this tells the rest of the world. America is supposed to have been the country that got it right. The angry, racist rich guy who disrespects women wasn’t supposed to have won.
So my only thoughts as I stare at my blank page, is that now is not the time to sit back, mouth agape in the face of something so ludicrous as to have erupted from a Mike Judge screenplay. Now is the time to fix it, from the inside. Get involved, speak out loud and don’t wait for the final election next time. When Canada was under the thumb of Conservatives, when scientists were being silenced and people’s very citizenship were being questioned – before there was even a general election, I joined the Liberal party and voted for the compassionate leader I thought would bring Canada’s reputation to the level that caused Holland to send tulips every year. And while he’s not perfect, he sure as hell represents the type of Canada I want. So my advice is to start making waves now. I speak from experience, though admittedly on a lesser scale.
I’m going to end here and either dive into my book in the hopes to block out the buzz that is infecting the internet – or perhaps I will lose myself in the world of a video game, (made by overworked and underpaid people).
Sigh.
I wish the best to my American friends and family and hope the next 4 years hurdles by fast.
