Authenticity in the Time of Trump
January 20, 2017 marked a clear change of direction in the United States of America. The Women's March was a show of millions of women (and men and other) objecting to this change. The March for Life a week later was a show of about a half a million people asking this change to go further in the direction of life. Many a march is planned for the future. A march for science, a march for healthcare, a march against Trump in general, etc. Here's one list of marches upcoming: http://www.thefader.com/2017/01/23/womens-march-11-more-upcoming-protests-trump-dapl-repeal-the-8th
Social media posts and arguments are getting increasingly blunt and caustic. People are not listening and hearing each other out in many cases. Frankly, no one who voted for Clinton is willing to understand why anyone voted for Trump, a third party candidate, or no one at all. Trump supporters are emboldened to be increasingly defensive and rude. There is no real communication happening. We are oiling the ugly machine politicians rely on: our fears. In no way am I defending Trump, but this bluntness and rudeness isn't helping us to communicate authentically or to make real solutions.
So, how do we maintain authenticity in this time? As the Trump Administration presents us with blatant untruths, i. e. Trump's crowd was bigger than Obama's, regardless of photographic evidence to the contrary, "alternative facts," and a poorly written travel ban that blocks Green Card holders because of lack of thinking things through? Some may think that the shouting, bluntness, and rudeness is authenticity. In most cases, however, it's not really authentic.
When I talk about authenticity, I refer to the third definition listed in Miriam-Webster: "true to one's own personality, spirit, or character." In the time of Trump, by all means we should be true to our positions, but also the way we present those positions, in hopes that we may increase understanding and communication. Perhaps the best way to defeat what we see as the "enemy" in our political world is to promote civility, despite whether or not the opposition does so.
