Are you a disgruntled Hillary Clinton voter? Are you convinced the end of the world is coming, and Donald Trump is the Russian spawn of Satan and Hitler? Are you hoping 37 electors will switch their votes in light of the recent “news” about Russian hacks (they won’t)? You’ve come to the right place. Here are seven ways to cope if you are a disgruntled Hillary Clinton voter:
1. Pick up a good book on economics, find a nice comfy couch, and then read it cover to cover.
I don’t mean to be insensitive, but this one will help you tolerate a Trump administration quite a bit. Everything you’ve heard from the left and the media about economics is wrong, and almost entirely made up. For example, “trickle-down economics” isn’t really a thing, it’s just a word Democrats and the media invented to get you to dismiss real economics. I recommend you start with Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics. After you read this book, you’ll realize that almost all price fixing and market manipulation (tools of the Democrats) creates surpluses and shortages, and produces results that are exactly the opposite of what was intended. For example, a higher minimum wage actually raises unemployment among minorities and the poor. Similarly, keeping rents low for low income families hurts poor people the most by driving them out of out of cities through pricing and maintenance effects. This economic reality applies to pretty much everything: unemployment compensation, welfare, energy price fixing, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, interest rates, green energy investments, handouts etc. This explains why Socialist and Communist systems always eventually fail. See Venezuela and North Korea for current examples. If you don’t believe me, you have to read Basic Economics.
2. Stop watching CNN, MSNBC, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News, CNBC, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Real Time with Bill Maher, The View, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and many other liberal shows, and stop reading The New York Times, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Vox, Mashable, Vice, Daily Kos, FiveThirtyEight, Yahoo News, Facebook Trending, Apple News, Think Progress, Snopes.com (yup), Politico, Politifact, Slate, Wired, The Guardian, FactCheck.org, BuzzFeed, Mother Jones, The New Yorker, Newsweek (The Daily Beast), and The Atlantic.
Just do yourself a favor and stop reading and watching this crap right now. Admit it, it’s just making you angry. You’ve got enough real problems to worry about: rent or mortgage payments, other bills, your job, your relationships with family and friends, and your health. A Canadian, a Brit and a South African telling you every day why Donald Trump is going to destroy America isn’t fun, or healthy. Take a mental break from all the fake news while you’re at it. Oh yeah, and don’t bother using the “fact checking” sites anymore. They’re all fake too. Every publication and show listed above is part of a massive liberal echo chamber. Do yourself a favor and get the hell out before you lose your mind. While you’re at it, take a sledgehammer to your Facebook feed, Reddit and Twitter. They’ve become a cesspool of hyper-polarizing material. It’s like an echo chamber on steroids. I suggest “unfollowing” these and similar publications from all your feeds immediately whenever possible. While you’re at it, stop obsessing over Bill Nye the Science Guy and Neil deGrasse Tyson – they’re actually not that smart. If you’re bored, try reading generally unbiased publications like The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Daily Mail, Reuters and maybe The Economist. For TV, stick to non-political movies and harmless but excellent shows like Westworld, Modern Family, Silicon Valley, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Family Guy (be careful here, Seth is an echo chamber loon), The Walking Dead, Shark Tank, The Real Housewives and sports programming. Shit, I don’t care if it’s anime, just change it. Upgrade your content, upgrade your life, calm your mind. You can thank me for this later.
3. Stop posting angry or lecturing messages on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, and stop pretending you can stop Donald Trump.
You can’t. He’s going to be President. He might even do a really fucking good job. It’s not something you need to stress about right now. If he fails, or if he’s impeached, so be it. Let it happen. For now, focus on you. And for god’s sake, stop with the stupid #thisisnotnormal crap, and stop calling Republicans alt-right – it’s just a new fake word that basically means racist. Constantly posting angry or sad messages online isn’t good for your mental health. All it does is reinforce your anger and resentment. Channel your frustration into positive ambitions like exercise, community service, and spending more quality time with family. You deserve better than to be angry all the time. Oh, and your donation to Planned Parenthood or the A.C.L.U. or wherever isn’t going to do squat to stop Trump, it’s just going to line the pockets of the people who work at these organizations. Real truth hurts.
4. Stop pretending you’re going to run for political office, or start a revolution.
Just… stop.
5. Stop attacking, lecturing or shunning Trump supporters, especially family and friends.
Has this helped you at all? Have you “unfriended” Trump supporters online, or stopped talking to friends or family because they supported him? If so, you’re officially out of control. Get a grip on your situation, and take a long fucking breath. Maybe it’s time for a vacation. Pick up a book on meditation while you’re at it because at this point you’re only embarrassing yourself and hurting your relationships with others. If you lose enough friends and family over this, you’ll spiral into depression. It’s not worth it. Everything is going to be fine… you’re okay. They probably aren’t racist. Calm down.
6. Take a moment to actually talk to friends and family who supported Trump. Instead of arguing with them, actually listen to them.
Only if you can do this without resorting to lecturing or name calling, try having a real conversation with someone you know who is a Trump supporter. I guarantee it will make them feel great (right now everyone is treating them like a racist, sexist, xenophobic swamp creature), and if you really try to listen, you will feel better also. Do what CNN’s Van Jones did, sit down with some Trump voters, especially ones you respect (if you can find any), and ask them why they voted for Trump. If you can find a wealthy intelligent Trump supporter of any race (there are lots), bonus points. You also get bonus points for talking to poor and middle class white and minority Trump supporters – they will open your eyes. Most of these folks including the smart, well educated ones will tell you they’ve been dismissed, ridiculed, attacked and ignored for the last eight years and beyond. If you don’t like their answer, don’t get angry, just listen. If you don’t understand their answer, do some real research (but not on Snopes, Politifact, Politico, FactCheck.org or any of the other publications above – remember, these are not legitimate unbiased publications – stick to research journals and unbiased media) – you won’t regret it.
7. If you’re feeling confident in your progress, go back and look at what Donald Trump really said over the last year or so.
Only do this last step if you feel you’ve made progress with the items above. It may be hard to swallow this one, but you should do it as it might make you feel better about Trump’s inevitable Presidency in 2017 and beyond. You might not like him. You might even hate the guy, but at least try to understand him a bit better as he will be your President of the United States. Don’t listen to the media, read for yourself. Remember when Donald Trump bragged about sexual assault? Turns out he didn’t. He specifically said “they let you do it,” which means he was bragging about sexual encounters, not assault. He also happened to be doing this right before he was preparing for a TV role as an exploitative and desirable wealthy man for a daytime soap opera role… It doesn’t fit the media narrative, but it’s true. Context matters. Remember when Donald Trump said he wants to ban all Muslims? This is a false narrative. Turns out he didn’t. He said he wants to ban non-citizen, immigrant Muslims from entering the country until they can be properly vetted. He then immediately backtracked and said he wanted to ban immigrants from “certain countries” – big difference. Look it up. Remember when Donald Trump said he hated blacks? He didn’t. Remember when he said he hated women? He didn’t. Remember when he said, “blood coming out of her, wherever.” Could he have meant vagina? Yes. Did he? Who knows. Is it gross if he did? Yup. We don’t know what he meant because he didn’t say it. He claims he meant ears which would make sense considering he preceded it with eyes. Remember when he called Mexicans rapists? Nope, he said illegal Mexican immigrants crossing the border are rapists. This is a fact, even Huffington Post reported that 80% of women crossing the border are raped by other illegal immigrants and by coyotes (aka human traffickers). Did Trump say he’s going to deport illegal immigrants? Yes he did, but he can’t realistically deport them en masse and he knows that, even though the laws are already on the books. Illegal immigrants get deported – that’s the law – and it happens all the time. He also happens to agree that many Dreamers should be able to stay and/or come back with ease – albeit legally. Remember when he said he could “shoot someone?” He was joking. Remember when he said he would do more than waterboard? He backtracked from that. Lastly, remember when Donald Trump revealed he is working with Putin? He didn’t, he called him a great “leader” and offered some mild praise – plain and simple – is that so bad? Would it be the end of the world if we got along with Russia for once? Couldn’t one argue the end of the world could come a lot faster if we were not getting along with Russia? Maybe a Trump Presidency isn’t the end of the world… maybe it’s a glimmer of hope.
Regardless, give yourself a break. Relax. Take a nap and a shower. Breathe deeply and start each day with a smile. Stop being so angry all the time and try to enjoy yourself. The world is not ending – at least not yet. Hopefully this guide serves you well as we move into a new era of American history.
The State 