Election Anxiety

You don't have to look far to notice that people are terrified about this election.  American psychologists have been writing about it.  Everyone is scared, not just one side or another.  And we've been scared for a while already, since before 2001 even.  It just keeps ramping up.

The psychological roots of the modern fascination with Zombies relates to a doomsday feeling about our time and more recently about this election.  People are even more afraid than they are angry.  

No matter who wins or looses, a significant portion of the US population thinks that all is lost.  We're goners.  This is going down the tubes.  There's no reconciliation, the other guys are idiots.  There's no compromise, how can you compromise with evil?  It's enough to make the sanest of people very uneasy, and enough to drive the slightly unstable right off the brink.

We need to find a way back to civility.  Desperately, we need this for the survival of our nation, our families, ourselves.  We need to get comfortable looking people in the eye and telling them what we really think and why.  And we need to do them the honor of listening to their thoughts and reasons too.

Honesty has fallen by the wayside, and been replaced by Bullying and Obfuscation.  The media can't be trusted, neither social media like this blog, or commercial media like TV news.  It's hard to know what is real and what is hype.  The amount of screaming about how close this election has become is not functional, I think it will shut people down.

It's sad to say but today more and more people talk like politicians.  All you hear is obstructionism, evasion, and distraction.  An opinion is supposed to be worth something even if it is founded on nothing.  Whatever happened to having reasons for your beliefs, for finding evidence to support your position?

We can be honest.  We can sit quietly and say I don't want this because I'm afraid.  I do want this because I hope for something for my kids.  I have reasons for my choices, and they may be my feelings, or they may be something that I believe to be a fact.

Belief is imperfect.  No matter what you believe you can be mistaken.  But you are still of value, even if you don't know all the facts.  You are a human being, and you can learn and grow and make your own decisions.

Remember that.  You too are a human being and your greatest power is your ability to care, to laugh, love, and connect.  Through that you can sustain yourself and your dear ones through these troubling times, and build the strength you need to talk honestly with someone that you disagree with.  One on one.