Thread Drift

[ny biker]

I have really struggled to articulate my feelings on this situation. You all are expressing them so well.


And here's something nice, because we need small bits of good news. This was shared on facebook by Livestrong.org. (Remember them?)

http://futurism.com/10-year-old-canc...age-dispenser/

[rebeccaC]

But it is hoped that Americans who don't at all share Trump's core values nor vision, will continue to work/voice their opposition. The last thing is sinking into helplessness and fear of Trump's power/ his backroom backers. That is my personal hope for the U.S. in future.
.

“Fear is built on structures of assumptions and lack of awareness. Once you move through the fog of fear and shine the light of awareness by taking action and moving forward, fear loses its power and efficacy.”….Pema


Hoping this new political atmosphere will increase the awareness of and the support for the progressive work that can be done on state and especially local community levels. Staying positive, spreading hope and remaining strong in our convictions can help in the aftermath of such political change. It's certainly very disappointing to see so many people voting for the change represented in Trumps campaign and that can't be minimized. Thankfully i live in a very progressive state and area and that helps to ease my mind a little.

Both Alex and I have European citizenship and we were already looking at the work opportunities in the E.U. for a while now. How the national political events play out could just give us another reason to do a move. We’ve had some initial conversations at work about this countries new direction, the impact on environmental issues and the strategies for dealing with it. Ellie and I were already concentrating more on getting E.U. projects in Germany and the U.K. so that may help my thinking on a move too.

[lph]

I'm half-way between wanting to move (Caliexit? Norway?) (...)
I'm working on a masters of renewable energy.

Sounds like you're all set up to come work with me :-) This is what I do. In honesty though, I don't think it's particularly easy getting a work permit here, and last time we had an opening we were swamped with applications. Still, renewable is just going to get bigger and bigger as our oil production tanks.

I've been thinking about this whole "what just happened"-thing. The general impression here, in the media and among everybody I talk to, has been that there was no way he could possibly win. I've been more sceptical, not that I knew it was going to happen, but I had a bad feeling about the whole situation and wasn't able to joke about it. In general I've been getting more aware about how much I live in a bubble, surrounded by people and opinions I agree with, and how vulnerable that actually makes us.

For instance, social media: on FB I see no pro-Trump comments, not surprisingly, because my feed is basically my friends and family that I like and choose to keep in touch with. On Twitter, pretty much the same. But I noticed that even on Instagram, where I follow quite a few people who are total strangers to me, but post photos I like, often climbing, skiing, mountaineering or just attractive nature photos. Or just humor accounts. But every single one of these ALSO posted "OMG, what just happened, it's a disaster"-photos right after the election. That is actually pretty strange. It may reflect that Trump supporters in general are less active on Instagram, or that my so-called "neutral" interests actually are dominated by people with similar political views.

But no matter the reason, the end result is that every day I go onto the computer, surf around, and feel I've got an idea of what's happening in the world. I haven't. I've got an idea of what's happening in MY side of the world, and hardly any impression at all of how people who disagree with me view the world. I'm in a bubble or an echo chamber, just like I like to complain about the far right being.

Last time I reflected over this I made a conscious choice to follow some people and accounts on Twitter I really dislike and disagree with. It sounds trivial, but in fact it's surprisingly infuriating, to read very strong opinions that go against everything you believe. I will be doing more of this now. It's the only way I can get a small reality check. And I regularly try to join the open debates on the news media, because the first comments often set the tone of how things are discussed. Maybe every now and then I can change somebody's mind, or they can make me see flaws in my own reasoning. If at all possible, it's much better to "win" by making people want to join you, not by shaming and bludgeoning down the opposition.

Anyway. This is the inside of my head right now. Thanks for reading. I wish you all the best :-)

[Crankin]

This is tounge in cheek, but I thought some of you might like this article on the subject of moving.
It kind of echoes how I feel.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle...low%3Afacebook

[Catrin]

This is tounge in cheek, but I thought some of you might like this article on the subject of moving.
It kind of echoes how I feel.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle...low%3Afacebook

Fun! The winter would certainly compare with much of Canada Seriously one of the things I enjoyed about Vancouver (BC, not Washington), was the very moderate winter. Similar to Seattle, of course it changes quickly before you get very far inland.

[Crankin]

Actually, Catrin, our winter, at least in the Boston suburbs is much shorter than in Canada! We typically don't get a lot of snowfall in December. Yes, there have been years we have had big storms in December, but generally not a lot. Our big snow months are January and February, with January being the coldest and February seems to be the snowiest. We are more likely to get snow in the beginning of March, than in December, but because it is warmer and the sun is stronger, even deep snows melt then. So, I generally think of true winter as January and February. Maybe it's because that's when I can usually count on local x country skiing and snow shoeing! The closest local x country ski area is about 8 miles from where I live. I always expereince the same thing every year: around March 5th, I am skiing on the trails there, and in the next week or two I am riding my bike on the road through this area. However, you don't have to go far for extended winter or snow. I live far enough inland where it is a little bit colder during the winter than in the city, but, from the end of March through May, we are much warmer and less windy than towns even 10 miles east of here. I've had enough experience of going into Boston in the spring, where it was 55 degrees and 25 mph winds, and coming home (20 miles) to 65-75 degrees and warm.

[emily_in_nc]

emily_in_nc
right there with you. Was researching today. Will be a few more years, I think but time to get serious. My son and his GF are in Tulum this week and I told them they should just stay

Seriously! Tulum is cool, though I think a bit too "young" for us. We certainly enjoying visiting, though.

[emily_in_nc]

This is tounge in cheek, but I thought some of you might like this article on the subject of moving.
It kind of echoes how I feel.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle...low%3Afacebook

I enjoyed that -- thanks, Crankin! Wish DH and I enjoyed cold weather more. I actually lived in Mass. the first four years of my life. My dad went to grad school at MIT. I love that part of the country (and the people there).

[Pax]

This is tounge in cheek, but I thought some of you might like this article on the subject of moving.
It kind of echoes how I feel.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle...low%3Afacebook

It's pretty tempting. I was born on the Cape and have loads of Family in Boston, Melrose, Medford, etc. Not people I know well, but there's a couple of hundred of them.

[Crankin]

Pax, you would love it. Melrose is an up and coming place for young people. A lot of my peers from grad school live there. My son lives in Medford. If you don't have to worry about schools, you have a wider range of places with less expensive housing (relative to here) that are Ok.

[Catrin]

Crankin - thanks for the info about winter. The winter in Indianapolis gets too much for me as I get older. I just get cold and don't warm up until spring. Oddly enough I still enjoy hikes in the woods in VERY cold temps, say teens or below. I think I enjoy that because the air is less humid in those temps - assuming there is little snow cover so one can actually see where the edge of the trail is. Those aren't the temps to fall into a snow-covered ravine - I'm normally solo on these hikes.

I do admit, if I had the resources and could find a job in my field in a more liberal state I would be out of here in a flash. I do really enjoy my job however, and I like my little community I've found here so I am not crying about that. Perfection doesn't exist anywhere, but it would be very nice to be in a more liberal state. Sadly, I am already hearing about mean-spirited comments being made to people who are obviously not white, or to women who are part of mixed-racial marriage. It's chilling to hear these things - it seems that people are starting to think it's acceptable to say such things now.

[Eden]

My mother and step-dad were joking about New Zealand as well, but from what I've heard it is very hard to get more than a tourist permit to go there and the cost of living is very high. I have no first-hand experience, but it sure looks like a gorgeous spot, though!

Really? I just heard the exact opposite - granted it was from a teen - 20 something that we just bumped into on a bus in San Francisco, but we were talking (he was shocked at how crowded the bus was - he said in NZ public transportation is usually mostly empty) and he said they've a lot of unoccupied space and are looking for immigrants. He said Christchurch has been rebuilt since the quake, but that people have been reluctant to move back and that one of the islands (south?) is quite desolate. We know someone who moved there around a decade ago. He was simply sick of it here. Moving there seemed fairly simple for him, but he was still young and is an electrical engineer (I think, or a programmer) and highly skilled people are often given preference. I'm not sure what his wife does.

[Eden]

I'll admit my first reaction was just wanting to throw up and then to hide under the covers and fantasize that someone would find a big box of uncounted ballots from Pennsylvania... but I've been forced to take a big deep breath and remember

- We survived 8 years of G. W. Bush... we can survive four years of this. There will be setbacks and things will happen that we don't like, but we can still oppose them and we'll get through it. We've got 4 year terms and separation of powers in our government in part to limit the amount of damage any one office holder can do. If anything this can be a serious wake up call and an inspiration for the next term - don't take anything for granted and every vote counts.

- Our friends, neighbors and neighborhoods haven't suddenly changed and the people who supported you before haven't gone away. At least up here, which I will admit is insulated, being one of the bluest districts, in a blue city, in a blue state, it hasn't changed overnight. The people here are still the same and we will continue to be progressive. It may become more expensive as we won't be able to rely on federal dollars for the next few years, and we'll have to fight all the more for what we think is right, but again we'll get through it and we won't change. I feel for those who live in places where some people now feel free to publicly express racism, sexism, homophobia and other bigotries, but now, I guess, it's been made very clear how shallow it was buried and how easy it was to make it all surface again. Hopefully it will inspire more people to speak out and fight - and not just locally - here it's preaching to the choir...

- This was not a mandate - it wasn't even a majority.... It was closer than I like to think about, but the popular vote still went the other way. I believe it's absolutely time to rethink the use of the Electoral College. It's an outdated system that was made when a majority of voters were illiterate and communication was measured in day-weeks-months rather than milliseconds... This is the second time in my lifetime that I've seen a president elected without winning the popular vote. I think change is most certainly needed.

[emily_in_nc]

Lovely post, Eden. I agree wholeheartedly!

RE: Moving to New Zealand. I don't know a lot about it, but I do know that they have strict requirements for retirees (income related, mostly, I believe), and for working folks, they have some kind of points system based on your profession/expertise and their need for that type of work.

I would never move that far from my family, as long as I still have some family, so I haven't paid more than a cursory bit of attention to anything about moving to New Zealand. Would love to visit, though!

[Crankin]

I agree, Emily. My younger son may be moving to Hawaii after he does his initial training for the Army. That is just too far away. His other choice he put in for was Colorado Springs. It would be way more realistic that I would go to Colorado a couple of times a year. Hawaii is just too far. Now, they are in CA and I've even done long weekend visits.