Week 7: Trump

Whether you are a Trump lover or a Trump hater, you can’t deny he is on a winning streak. His numbers are incredible, over the top, tremendous…. America has never seen anything like it, its big-ly killin it- best it has ever been. It’s true -or at least partially true- when broken down, there are lots of reasons why things are the way they are, but there is no denying Trump is a force of nature, and he is in the middle of winning like a champ. I just wish all this winning for Trump wasn’t reminiscent of all that Charlie Sheen winning….. Off the rails, doing whatever he wants, behaving over-indulgently, self centered, and in the end, we all know where it landed him. I just hope that America does not suffer when all trends back down because, inevitably, it will. But I have to say,I am all for enjoying it while it lasts…. That made me think about how many people are actually feeling this great economy, so I posted the question to my social media. I got very few responses….. A few of them were expected responses, and the ones I expected to tell me they are killing it in every way imaginable did just that. The problem is the ones I wanted to hear from are quiet because all this great economy touting that we hear about, read about, and that drive up the cost of living are not being felt in a positive way. I know this is supposed to be positive to go along with my point of 52 words and I also know Trump was partially named as one of my words because my friend is a smarty pants…. who is also a Trump supporter-and I absolutely believe he sees Trump as a positive word. I am not a Trump fan so finding something positive to write about was a challenge, to put it mildly…. but the economy is a blinking beacon of re-election hope. Even the most staunch anti-Trumper can’t deny the numbers… and Trump’s chants telling you more Americans are working than ever before, more this more that….. But who is feeling this? Why were there so few who could comment they now have more disposable income…. Why do I have a friend who lives on disability and barely scrapes by but loses her food benefits because of Trump cuts… How do I turn that into a good thing??? I don’t have to, Trump did it for me in his SOTU- he bragged more people got off public assistance than at any other time in history…. Not because of a booming economy, but because of Trump cuts- so now they are just hungry.

There are definitely a few things that trump has done that I can really be on board with like maternity/paternity leave, the funding for the opioid crisis, starting a task force for the murdered and missing indiginous women, and several other things I can say I approve of and appreciate. But I dont feel this economy, America is not a better place to live. It is hard to see the positives in a divided America…. But that was the whole point of this project… to see the positives… and in the end…. Trump was and is a much needed lesson. He has forever changed America, and from my front porch, not for the better. A good economy, I feel, is not worth the amoral place America has become in a lot of ways. We have distanced ourselves from our historic allies and grown man crushes on authoritarians. Our homeless population is flying through the roof, mass and school shootings have become the norm….. So much “greatness” has happened over the last 3 years it makes me want to cringe and be sad at the same time. This word has been horrendously difficult for me because Trump seriously revolts me. I see the positives he has done, but I do not think they are even close to out-weighing the negatives.

The goal of this project and blog is to be true to myself, to be real, and to work through each word and let it impact me. I want to take the positive each word gives me, but I also do not want to change my values or mislead how I feel…. To be true to the “me” I find along the way. If you follow my #52words project or blog page, I hope you can follow my crazy, random brain. If you can’t, don’t feel bad- most of the time, I can’t either. So far, I love the project. Each week, I think this is the hardest word, then I think the same thing the next week… If you enjoy this week, please see below for links to other weeks.