Silence
I had a very hard time deciding what to do about today’s post. Initially I was planning on just not updating at all a second time this week, but this is a tough time for many and if my dumb comic can make any of this easier for anyone, then I should post both updates. So this week’s second page will be up here Saturday. I have already posted it to Patreon, in part because I don’t know if I’ll be able to do a real reward this month.
All that aside, it is important to me that I express my opinions on what has transpired in my country and I think it is desperately important that anyone who reads my comic also acknowledge these events.
I am heart broken and so, so disappointed in roughly half of my fellow americans. I consider myself a patriot. This is an identity that has been hard come by for me. I’m 25. I spend my adolescence growing up during the Bush administration, Iraq War, and the heavy rhetoric of Islamophobia. For much of my early teens, being a patriot mean being a flag waving, war-mongering, ignorant ‘merican. When I was 17 I did a year long exchange in France. I learn a lot, about the language, about different cultures, but one of the things that stuck with me most was my English teacher’s description of what a patriot actually is. A patriot is someone who fights for there country. Someone who continues to stand for their countries ideals even when it’s hard and dangerous. America was founded on the ideals of liberty and freedom. Religious and personal freedom. I truly believe that everyone living in our country, regardless of color, creed, sexual orientation, or gender.
I remember being a very small child, maybe 8 or 9, and thinking “gosh, I am so lucky to have been born in America. Here we are free. Everyone is equal.” I feel like that is what I was taught all throughout school and it’s only now that I’m adult that I’m able to see how much of a lie that is. This isn’t a new thought for me. This is something I have been hyper aware about throughout the course of this year, but it is a thought that has been punctuated by the election of a lying, racist, misogynistic, sexually predatory oompa loompa.
It is scary, as a woman, that about half of the country agrees with this type of person. But it I’m not just scared for myself. I am scared for all of the other women, and the LQBT+ people, and all of the non-white people who stand to loose so much from this man who won presidency because he promised to do horribly unconstitutional things to us. I’m even scared for the some of the white people he seduced with his hate because they are also going to suffer if our system of checks and balances fails to stop him (which, with a Republican House and Senate, is a frighteningly real possibility) from destroying the liberties we have fought so hard for.
What made America great was our melting pot ideals. Our diversity. Being a big-hearted, inclusive, and compassionate society is what we should be and what I believe we still can be. I have no time or patience for hate. And I know that, by being virtual of being a woman on the internet with an opinion, I am opening myself up to an immeasurable amount of hate, but I will not be quiet about this. It is too important.
I am resolving to stand and fight against whatever hate comes our way. Be it by continuing to vote, by being a compassionate ally to those in need, or with my writing and art. I implore you to do the same. If you have privilege of any kind, use it to fight for those who don’t. If you are brave enough to fight, protect those who cannot protect themselves. Love your neighbors, love yourself. It is alright to mourn, I am doing my fair share, but darkness cannot last forever. Dawn will come and it will come faster if we unite and push for it together. We are stronger and better together. All of us.
I will leave you with this. I know that in some ways my opinions are idealistic. I know that not everyone can get along all of the time, but there is a difference between everyone agreeing on all points and everyone having equal rights and having their differing beliefs(be they religious, personal, or whatever) be tolerated. I don’t expect all of you reading this to agree with me and that’s fine. But I expect you to do so in a polite and civilized manner. It’s my right to think this way, just as it is your right to disagree. I will say though that if you strongly disagree with what I’ve said above, that my comics are probably not for you. While my beliefs may not be overtly baked into the narrative all of the time, I use my stories to express my views on the world. I’m pretty sure most authors do. I write stories about monsters, not just because monsters are cool, but also because they are good allegories for “the Other.” The Other being any kind of fill in the blank thing that is different from the reader. And while you may not have been able to pick up on this yet, as the plot is still in it’s early stages of unwinding, RDD, in so many ways, is about how monsters are more human than actual humans are. When Mara is baffled how humans can have so much hate towards members of their own species for something as trivial as skin color while Strangers are able to co-exist peacefully for the most part in a society with a plethora of different species, that is me being baffled over racism and sexism. 100% me.
That last part was a bit longer than I meant it to be. For real though, I will be done now, but I am going to leave you with some links for your consideration.
ALCU’s promise to fight Trump for our rights.
VlogBrothers’ post election thoughts and what this likely means for our economy and health care.
I don’t have a link, but if you can watch the Daily Show’s live coverage episode of the election (Season 22, Episode 22), the guests had some very important things to say.
A list of good organizations that need our support.
A cute comic about how to easily help people being harassed as a bystander.
A playlist of all the dumb Undertale fan videos that I like to maybe brighten your day a bit.
Also, if you are one of the 15000 people who wrote in Harambe for president, please gather yourselves together and move to the deserted island that has been set aside for you.
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Remember that it’s only about 60 million people who voted for Trump. That’s less than a fifth of the total population of the US, and less than a quarter of the adults!
Of those 60 million, some aren’t exactly haters but just don’t see anything they don’t want to see. Others are just gullible.
That doesn’t mean Trump isn’t a big threat. And it doesn’t mean 60 million isn’t far too many. Who knew so many could vote for a candidate who steals pages from the fascist playbook?
I’m not a political type, and I’m not an American, and I’m not someone imminently in danger of being Trumpled, and I’m coming to this comic late, but…
Thank you for such a well-written, intelligent, reasoned and reasonable response to the continued polarization of America. Let us hope there 60, nay 160 million more Americans like you!