THE SILENT MAJORITY

How in the world did Trump win?

I know many of you are asking that question. It seems to come more from both coasts than anywhere else and maybe that explains a part of it. The wealthy, the celebrities, the media, the powerful all can’t understand how it happened and they vocalize that on a daily basis since the results of the election. What they don’t understand is that when you contain yourself in a bubble the only people you come into contact with are those contained with you.

You don’t realize that there are others out there who may not think like you do. That’s even more the case when you live such an elitist life that you have nothing in common with the common man. You consider anyone without a college degree ignorant and stupid while at the same time depending on things like your groceries being brought into the city by truck drivers, your electricity being given to you by men and women willing to lay electrical cable, the dish tech who installs your satellite dish, the internet provider who hooked up your internet or the farmer who grows crops that feed you. To you everything is just there without ever considering who makes it happen.

Or perhaps you’re a teen depending on your mom and dad to provide you with everything while thinking it is below you to work part time at McDonalds. Maybe you’re a college student going on loans, your parent’s money, grants or scholarships rather than having to work and save money to go. You feel like everything should be handed to you like a free education rather than having to earn it. Because you have little vested interest in your education financially it doesn’t matter to you if you show to class or don’t bother so you can be part of that mass of students protesting the results of the election because your person didn’t win or heading off to counseling because you were traumatized by the whole thing.

But those other people are why Trump won. Those workers who are tired of being called stupid, ignorant or deplorable. Those parents who have sacrificed to ensure your education only to see you squander it by skipping class. The people who were told they could keep their doctor and would see the cost of health care lower only to see the exact opposite happen. The ones who were happy because racial equality was finally here only to see that slapped down by race baiters who would portray someone as racists for simply disagreeing with a black President. The mothers who worked hard every day to take care of the house, the clothes, the meals and more only to be called losers by feminists because they didn’t toss it all aside for a career outside of the home. The people who had their rights trampled on in the cause of social justice to placate the few over the many. The people who have become sick and tired of political correctness that’s gotten so overused that you can barely breathe without it offending someone. Those were the people that voted for Trump. The silent majority that let their voices be heard.

In response what has happened? The powers that be that preached tolerance, inclusion and equality have suddenly changed. They refuse to include anyone that disagrees with them. They want anyone who doesn’t see things the way they do to not be tolerated or heard. They find that anyone who disagrees with them is not near their equal because they are superior, at least they tell us that. And while the majority of people who voted for Trump consider the election over and have gone on with their lives, a large number of those who didn’t feel the need to carry on about it a week after the election. They want a new election because the one we had didn’t end the way they wanted it to. They claim he will destroy this country while they are burning things and tearing things down.

They say that Trump should tell any of his supporters who have resorted to violence to stop. And he has done just that. Sadly CBS which had him saying that on Friday held off showing it until Sunday evening in spite of all the violence. And while they were screaming at him to call for an end to the violence…we heard nothing from our President to do the same. We heard nothing from his competitor to do the same. The end result is those that voted from him shaking their heads, knowing as they did before they voted that those protesters still don’t get it and then going on about their lives.

You want peace and no violence? Start with yourself. You want compassion and understanding? Start with yourself. You want to be included in what is happening and what is to come? Then be reasonable and act like an adult rather than a petulant child. Open your eyes to possibilities rather than mire yourself so deeply in your beliefs that you can’t understand how anyone could possibly think different than you. Once you make the decision to have an open and meaningful dialogue, a back and forth of ideas and concepts, rather than simply clinging tightly to your own, then you might begin to understand just how it was that Donald Trump became President.