Today is the beginning of our battle for truth
My friends, these are dark times. To survive this darkness with our sanity intact, we must stand together. We must share the courage of our hearts.
Today, January 20, is inauguration day in the United States.
For whatever reasons, American voters have elected a man for president who denies the very existence of objective truth.
For Donald John Trump, ‘truth’ is whatever made-up story serves his purpose at that moment. Time and again, he has demonstrated he is a man of no morals and no character, interested only in pursing his own gain.
This morning as I scroll my newsfeed, a handful of my Trump-supporting friends are eagerly counting down the hours until the inauguration, while many other friends are organizing for tomorrow’s worldwide protest.
Make no mistake — today is the beginning of our battle for truth.
What does this day mean?
Today, Donald Trump’s version of the truth becomes the ‘official’ version. For the next four years — unless he’s impeached or incapacitated — this man speaks for the United States of America. God help us all.
I don’t know about you, but the very thought makes me physically ill.
You might even celebrate the inauguration of Donald J Trump. Would you be surprised to know that I don’t hate you? I respect you because the fact that you are reading these words demonstrates you have an open mind.
But if you’re like me — and most of my friends — you feel an icy knot in your stomach, a sense of dread. We don’t know exactly what is coming, but it cannot be good.
When attempting to explain the United States to my foreign friends I often tell them America simply has more of everything. More mega-wealthy billionaires and more third-world poverty. More genius, but also our own unique brand of aggressive, willful, soul-crushing, planet-wrecking stupidity.
Donald Trump represents the very worst of the American character.
I couldn’t put it any better than Hunter S. Thompson, writing about Trump’s moral predecessor, Richard Nixon:
“For years I’ve regarded his existence as a monument to all the rancid genes and broken chromosomes that corrupt the possibilities of the American Dream; he was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad …. Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?”
Could it ever get worse than Richard Milhous Nixon?
We’re about to find out.
I offer you my service as a filter …
It used to be that reading and digesting the news was a solitary experience.
When I was a kid, my father would sit alone reading his morning newspaper. We understood that was his private time. We rarely interrupted him. He rarely shared his opinions with us, except for an occasional grunt or chuckle.
Today I read that 62% of Americans get their news from social media, according to Pew Research Center data published in May 2016.
It used to be that news was presented in a cool and objective manner.
Nowadays the news shouts and screams, rants and raves. That’s because social media means that we, the audience, have the final word on what gets read or viewed.
Angry, aggressive news gets our attention, and motivates us to share it with our friends—especially if it confirms our existing beliefs.
I pay close attention to the emotional content of the news.
Some days the news is so toxic I can barely stand it. I get physically ill. I have to back away from the screen and take time off.
I always think twice before sharing news that has a strong emotional content. Does it really serve me and friends to read this? In many cases I decide that it does not.
I’ve spent my adult life working to defy the filter bubble.
I left the United States 30 years ago to immerse myself in an alien culture and to gain a richer perspective on my own country.
I’ve lived my life on three continents. I recently returned to the US to become reacquainted with ordinary Americans, and to study the Trump phenomenon from up close.
I take my role as a news filter seriously.
I started my career as a journalist. My skills as a writer have sustained me through a career that has evolved from startup marketing to content strategy and B2B copywriting. Words matter very much to me.
I will admit that even I get carried away.
In the heat of the moment, I have forwarded what I thought to be truthful content, only to find out later it is false.
Fortunately, I have a large circle of online friends who read the news critically and are eager to filter out the fake.
Those of us who care about truth are learning to become more responsible filters for each other. You might already know this, but here are few handy tips about how to recognize a fake news story:
… and you can be my filter
Most of the news I consume (but not all) arrives filtered through the opinions and commentary of my friends and trusted intermediaries.
I have a large network of friends around the globe. For the most part, these are intelligent, creative, caring people who represent a wide spectrum of divergent opinions. Not all of them are interested in politics. And we certainly don’t agree on all points.
For the last six months, I’ve been watching the news intensely to better understand the Trump phenomenon and where this is going.
What I’ve noticed is that circle of friends are taking a more active part in the news. I rely on these friends to keep me informed, as well as honest.
I actively seek out opinions that are different from my own.
While it is true that many of my friends lean to the left, I also have right-leaning friends, including Trump supporters. I count myself lucky to have that perspective.
I’ve also tried to engage my Trump-supporting friends, but that seems to be an exercise in futility.
One reason is we lack a common definition of truth. Whatever evidence I bring to the table, the zealot will dismiss it because of ‘liberal bias.’
Can anybody show me a fact-checking website that conservatives will accept? It doesn’t exist, because facts don’t have a liberal or conservative bias.
I don’t claim to have the absolute truth.
What I do have is many different sources of information, which I constantly test for veracity. I have a large and diverse circle of online friends who read the news critically, keep me informed and keep me honest.
This is a battle for reality, my friends.
Will you join me in the fight?
Our voices can change the room
You may have noticed that my writing also has emotional content.
It is my goal to write to you from the heart.
There is so much depressing in the news that I could easily drown from that pain, and from focusing on that side of things, I could overwhelm you.
I would much rather inspire.
I leave you with the words of our outgoing president:
“One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.”
This is a beautiful story. Enjoy!
