By Chris Lamonica
Image by Unknown
The following is a republished Facebook post presented in essay format with the author's permission. [Comments] and italics are inserted by The Socratic Review for clarity or editorial style purposes only. The Socratic Review encourages readers to submit original essays for publication at thesocraticreviewcomment@gmail.com
It’s taken me some time to put into words how I feel after Tuesday.
To those I see on my feed celebrating gleefully, you got what you wanted. You likely won’t read this, or you’ll leave a laugh react like you always do. While I vehemently disagree with you, I still care about you. When his [the president elect's] many policies start impacting you, in ways you thought were just rhetoric, myself and my friends will help you organize. But know that your vote is an endorsement of what happens next. While I won’t stand over you and say “see! I told you so!” when you feel the power of that endorsement, I’ll warn you now. As the thing about leopards is that eventually — they will eat you too.
When your favorite local restaurant closes down because the family that runs it is deported, it won’t matter that you thought they were “one of the good ones.”
When the price of groceries skyrockets and you find it difficult to buy Christmas gifts for your family, it won’t matter that you thought that the tariffs would have worked.
When a woman you care about is dying due to sepsis during a miscarriage because the hospital’s lawyers feel it’s too risky legally, it won’t matter what special cases you felt comfortable with.
When you hear of the LGBTQ+ kids across the country that felt suicide was the only option left because their healthcare, their identity, and their rights were restricted, it won’t matter that you still “love” your friend’s kid.
When FAFSA is no longer an option for your kids and grand kids to afford to go to college, it won’t matter that you didn’t realize that it was part of the Department of Education.
When polio returns and your beautiful new grandson is paralyzed from the waist down, it won’t matter that you didn’t think RFK Jr. meant “those” vaccines.
When hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians and Ukrainians are killed, it won’t matter that you believed Trump when he said they wouldn’t do it because of him.
When White Supremacists once again feel comfortable beating up a black kid walking home from school in a southern state you’ve never visited, it won’t matter that “you” aren’t a Nazi.
When the many pages of Project 2025 are rolled out, one by one, without any challenge from the Supreme Court, it won’t matter that you thought John Kelly calling Trump a fascist was “extreme” or an “exaggeration.”
While your vote may have been a single issue to you, immigration or the economy, it has a blast radius. Because that’s leopards for you. They eat whatever is available.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party needs a reckoning. It’s led by rich Neo-liberal consultants that are out of touch with the issues of the working class. Until they wake-up and embrace the economic populism and social progressiveness that made me excited as a Bernie supporter in 2016 and 2020, I’ll be looking for opportunities to support my local community and the now vulnerable people in my life alongside so many of my friends and family.
When the candles on your cake burn down to melt the icing, we’ll be here — in solidarity with one another, with the never ending goal of progress instead of regression.
Comments