Cure for the Election 2016 Blues
by Sharon Tjaden-Glass
Like other Americans, I’m working hard to detach this election year from my emotional well-being.
I’m reminded of this clip from The Tudors (one of my favorite series of all time), in which two of Henry VIII’s advisors discuss a translated poem about what it means to have a happy life.
On the left, Henry Cavill plays Charles Brandon, one of Henry VIII’s lifelong advisors. On the right, David O’Hara plays Henry Howard, another member of the court.
What strikes me about this scene is the emptiness of a life lived in the pursuit of power. Both of these characters spend years and years scheming and blackmailing that result in some gruesome plays of power that end the lives of others. Including thousands of innocents.
All in the name of rising above others.
But in the end, the things they long for are things that they could have without any power at all.
They long to live the lives that many of us are living right this moment.
While this election season drones on and we watch politicians seeking to bury each other in quest of power, let’s not lose sight of what truly makes a happy life.
The happy life be these, I find
The riches left, not got with pain
The fruitful ground, the quiet mind
The equal friend, no grudge nor strife
No charge of rule, nor governance
Without disease, the healthful life
Wisdom joined with simplicity
The night discharged of all care
For much of human history, no place like this has existed in the world. I think our greatest challenge is to exist in the tension between seeking to improve this nation while still being grateful for it.
Let’s keep it in perspective.
Let’s remember that we owe many of these elements of a happy life to the simple fact that we live in this time period, in this country.
We have come a long way from the days of burning people at the stake for being the wrong kind of Christians or having our heads cut off because of our political dissension.
Let’s remember to love what we have.
Becoming Mother 
I told myself I would not blog about this anymore nor would I post about it on social media. So I will let my feelings out to you. It is so distressing to see a candidate for president of the United States so lacking in knowledge of the world we live in, the problems our world faces, and the basics of our constitution and what separates our form of government from others around the world. It is distressing and it is insulting and that is just putting aside the moral character issues. I am a student of history and trumps candidacy reminds me of the worst dictators history has ever known. It’s the lack of intellect that gets me the most, the statements that he doesn’t need to prepare, that he knows better than so many people who have spent their lives in service. Thank God it will soon be over and he will go back to television And being the greatest person that he has ever met.
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I hear you, Charlotte. He has done a lot of damage to how the United States is perceived abroad. I teach international students at a university and I have to say, it is hard at times to answer their questions. They are just in shock that someone like him has been able to get so far in the presidential race. They’re shocked that so many people support him. “But America is about freedom and respect for other people!” they say.
I tell them that I wholeheartedly agree. Sometimes we talk as a class about what causes people to blame and demonize others. I ask them to think about the issues and politics that divide their own countries.
Then, I try to steer the conversation in a positive direction. I tell my students that a lot of Americans don’t have any friends from other countries or other religions. I tell them that Americans would have a harder time assigning blame to a whole country or religion if they had a face to go along with the group that they’re blaming. In fact, according to research in intercultural communication, **personal contact with people who are different from you** is the only tried and true method of decreasing prejudice. Not simply “knowing” about another country. Not learning its language. It’s having the face-to-face communication that lowers our anxiety and lowers our likelihood of engaging in talk that marginalizes others.
We’ll get through this, Charlotte! 🙂 Only a few more weeks to go.
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I would say you are absolutely right. Here in New York we meet so many different types of people and you learn to evaluate a person one on one no matter what his or her background. If you want to chuckle check out #TrumpBookReport. Based on tweets riffing on his debate performance and likening it to a student who must give a book report but hasn’t read the book
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That is so great! I’m laughing out loud 🙂
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It is hard to forget how lucky we are to live in a place and at a time when we can very openly discuss our political leanings without fear of repression or worse.
I had a discussion the other day with my Lyft driver on the way to the airport ALL about the election. He happens to be originally from Ethiopia and it was heartbreaking and eye opening to hear first-hand of the atrocities that he and his extended family have had to endure in his homeland. He very much LOVES America and all that it stands for and even though he works THREE jobs to make ends meet (and send money home to his family) he told me that if someone offered him “all the money in the world” he would never want to return his place of birth. Despite all of the rhetoric and nastiness of this election, he knows how great America is right now and he is here to contribute and make it even greater.
There are so many of us who have no idea how lucky we were to be born on this soil and we should do everything in our power to preserve our democracy. VOTE – there are so many in this world who are denied this simple and powerful action. And we take it all for granted. Great post.
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Yes, yes, and yes. And for women, we’re not just lucky to be born here, we’re lucky to be born at this time. After so many years of women fighting to vote, to be heard, to be represented. Now it’s our responsibility to stand up for those who are still fighting for their right to be heard and respected and represented. That’s the America I love.
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