Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Was watching the video exchange between Donald Trump and Jorge Ramos, as well as the exchange between Ramos and the gentleman in the hallway. I then sat and thought a minute about conversations I've had recently about how popular Trump is, and what exactly that means for America as a whole. It immediately made me think about conversations I've had with adults and students alike, both in and out of the classroom, about former politicians who've run on platforms of hate and hate speech. Most notorious of course being Adolph Hitler. I know I've often found people finding it extremely hard to understand how platforms of prejudice, racism, xenophobia and hate reach national status. Well, now we're getting a glimpse. It starts small, and subtle.Following a recession that has left people and communities broken, he's offering simple solutions to appalling problems. He's offering immigrants as scapegoats for our problems, but you'll notice that other republican candidates are jumping on the bandwagon by blaming working class people and the like. The turmoil that we see further breeds desire from people for a strong leader...a leader who won't be "politically correct" and who doesn't have to "ask anyone for anything. All the while, they, and their followers, decry the current president..not because of his policies, which have left the country in a better state than which he received it, but because he is different. He's the other. The saddest example of that is the thought that he's muslim...as if a person of muslim faith couldn't be a good president...or an honest person...I mean, Christian conservatives are doing such a bang up job, right? It all makes perfect sense when you think about it, but it's shameful and saddening that so many people are falling for it.We are a tragic comedy. Through our record high incarcerations, to our exorbitant infatuation with guns, to our neglect of the less fortunate in this land of plenty, where it's smarter business to keep a block of houses empty and boarded up than use them for something fruitful. We've stopped investing in people, in each other. That's what the rise of a "politician" like Trump most symbolizes. We're done investing in others. Every man for himself. And while I mention Trump, I don't personally think any of the republican candidates currently in the field are much different than him. I suppose, his greatest strength is that he at least has the balls to say how he truly feels.Funny, isn't it?