Today’s politics!

If you know me at all, you must have known I’ll get to this eventually:-) It’s the hot topic since past four years and everyone has an opinion. Here’s mine:

Hard to believe but I was not such a political person till about the time when Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy. Before that I loved watching Obama and all the things he was doing and the decency and smartness he had brought to the WH. But with Clinton’s announcement, suddenly it was a chance of a lifetime to work for the campaign of the first woman President of the USA! Having been a feminist all my life, working for a female candidate for president seemed like the culmination of all the ideas I would talk about in my social circle and family. And that too for a woman who had proven her worth over a lifetime of work for women’s rights and children’s rights. And having come from a country where we’ve had a woman as a prime minister and then a president, this seemed a no brainer! 

As a mom of two daughters, it also pushed me to get involved so they can have heroines to look up to and to know the power they will have with their votes. And their involvement in it showed them how much work needs to be done and how to change things, you have to get involved! They know their history to remember how women leaders always do great for their people and country, like Hatshepsut and Catherine the great and Cleopatra.

So Trump comes in and the first feeling we all had was like there was a darkness all around. How could this have happened?! How could this country do this? Watching Hillary concede so gracefully, was so heart wrenching. Once again, a woman had lost to the most pitiful of a man, just because of her gender and her strength as a woman and her talent as a politician. 

Politics should be a reflection of the people who are electing the legislators and executives. For the values we uphold and for the strength we have as a country. And I don’t think that’s what it is right now. We are definitely better than this! There are people who love Trump for taxes and their 401K. Alright, but what about the society around you that’s crumbling every day? I would like to have a conversation with them about their kids growing up where women are insulted and pulled down by the highest office in the land. Where their kids might be targeted because of the colour of their skin, maybe not today but it’s a slippery slope of racism and who knows where it’ll end. Where humanity is laughed upon. And being decent and compassionate is seen as a sign of weakness. What about the morality and decency that we all want to be surrounded with and have our kids grow up with?! What about the compassion and empathy that holds all of us together?! How about celebrating the differences that we all bring to the table and the cultures we all represent? 

I know I’m privileged and a lot of things that this administration does, doesn’t affect me. But no society can survive with just a privileged few looking out only for themselves. That is how Nazi germany started, with indifference. People didn’t pay attention to what was happening to their Jewish neighbors and friends. And we all know how that ended! We can have differences of opinions but not at the cost of the country. We can give the other side the benefit of the doubt but not be taken like fools for doing that. We can not make cheating and lying the norm and not be bothered by it. At the end of it all, we are all in this together. That’s what spurs me to stay involved.

So, I get going again for this November to try and make things right. To try and give our kids a country they’ll be proud of and look up to their president. Where serving their country is still a good career choice. Where we don’t have to explain to strangers what the hell happened?! Where Obama is not an exception with zero scandals during his presidency, but a norm. Where no one pities us throughout the world because of our leaders. Where we can turn off the news because everything is going good in the country!