The election
My thoughts on the election, my emotions after the result, and how I coped with these emotions
I’m a straight white guy. I am part of the demographic that will be least affected by anything that happens in the next four years. I totally understand if you don’t care what I have to say about the election result, and you’re welcome to skip this one.
Writing about anything else felt impossible when the election was the only thing on my mind.
So I decided to write my thoughts on the election, my emotions after the result, and how I coped with these emotions. I hope you like this.
I spent the morning after election day, as the polls were closing and votes were coming in (I’m in the Philippines, 12 hours ahead of the East Coast), watching the results live on the CBS livestream on YouTube (the first livestream I found). I was simultaneously scrolling through Twitter and also had downloaded the NYT app for the sole purpose of watching [cue dramatic music] “The Needle.” This was the same needle I had watched eight years ago slowly inch from its comfortable perch on the left to the far right, indicating that Hillary Clinton would not become our next president after all.
When I opened the NYT app for the first time, the needle was already solidly on the right. It said Trump had around a 65% chance of winning. I maintained hope, but it didn’t look great.
As much as I disliked many things Kamala Harris stood for (specifically on Palestine and the border), I had high hopes that she would win. Regardless of her views on these subjects, there was no question in my mind she was better than the opposition. Plus, we would finally have our first Madam President! A non-white daughter-of-an-immigrant female president. Boy, would it have felt good to lib out!
Alas, that didn’t happen.
As the results kept getting worse throughout the morning and into the afternoon, a few feelings set in: anger, worry, depression… States kept getting called for Trump on TV, and everyone seemed to be losing their minds on Twitter. It all became very overwhelming. I kept scrolling, occasionally switching over to Instagram Reels, desperate for the regular boost of dopamine my brain had come to expect. Instead, every swipe filled me with more dread and anxiety. I had such a visceral, emotional reaction, like the drug I was dependent on suddenly lost all efficacy. My brain lashed out with anger. I mean, how could these people be so stupid? This is a vote against their own good! Are people that racist? Sexist? Are people really that filled with hate?
Eventually, I put the phone down, and we turned off the TV. By this point, the result was clear. The needle was above 95% in favor of Trump. I have no idea how long it had been, if we had been sitting there for an hour or five. It was all a blur. We decided to take out the dog.
As we walked through Manila’s warm, humid heat for over an hour, I slowly came back into myself. I re-tethered myself to reality. With that, the anger dissipated. I was left with a deep sadness for the result, a dull darkness. But I was no longer angry. I had a moment of clarity about why over half the country voted for Trump.
Hate was a part of this result, sure. But it was not the whole story. The fact is that people who voted for the opposing side are not reading and watching the same information that we are. In the age of algorithmic feeds, no two people are being shown the same info. We all get fed a slop tuned so precisely to the frequency of our preconceived ideas it is hard to fathom that other views exist. You get shown two types of posts: the post that perfectly matches your viewpoint, or the post that so perfectly exemplifies the polar opposite of your perspective that it entrenches you further into your beliefs.
And these algorithms are just the new and improved iteration of what TV news had already become years ago. Every news channel, with their “talking-heads,” force you to either hate-watch someone you think is crazy or try to find the person you think is most intelligent. But that person is simply whoever agrees with you the most.
Anyone with ambiguous views will become too morally confusing and uncomfortable to watch. You will always return to the easiest watch, the one that confirms your beliefs.
That’s why my mom listens to Rachel Maddow, and my grandfather watches Fox News. It’s also why I watch Hasan Piker.
These people are comfortable to watch because they uphold our beliefs. Not only that, they make us feel smarter because they equip us with more talking points and ammo in the fight against the other guys. We’re all getting “smarter,” and somehow, we all disagree.
Anyway, I’m not the first person to discuss any of these ideas, and I’m definitely not the smartest. They’re just ideas that have been on my mind for the last week and I need to write about them so I can move on to something else.
The only reason I bring all this up is to say that anger is natural. Given what you know, what you see online, and what you consume in the media, it is normal to be mad about how anyone could vote for the other guys. It seems completely ridiculous.
What I’ve come to realize, after putting my phone down and going outside, is that I just don’t think anger is helpful. Especially when it prevents you from taking valuable lessons away from the result of this election. If the Democrats’ only campaign strategy is pointing out how racist and sexist the other side is, they’re never going to win another election. At some point, you have to lead with more than just pointing fingers.
Anyway, I’m clearly no political scientist. I’m just some guy with a newsletter who likes to talk about himself and how he tries to improve himself. Honestly, I don’t know what to do or how to feel about this. I just know that doomscrolling is not helping with my feelings, so I will refrain from doing that.
The one thing I saw on Twitter since the election that I enjoyed was this video by the Daily Stoic. I’ve spoken about him before and like his modern, practical application of ancient philosophy. It might not resonate with you as much as it did with me, but I invite you to give it a try: https://x.com/dailystoic/status/1854223284214141172.
I think his message is important. It is the only message that has made me feel calm since the election results:
Focus on what is in your control. Do your job. Not your job job, but the job you were born to do. Do what it is that makes you special. Make art. Write. Learn piano. Whatever it is that you control and that puts good out into the world.
As Charlotte’s grandma — a life-time Republican who voted for Kamala Harris last week — would say: “You can’t fix the world but you can try to keep your own corner clean.”
I can’t change the result of the election. I can’t change that some people in my life have been led to vote for what I perceive to be “the bad guys.” What I do control is what I am going to do today. And tomorrow. And the next day.
Doomscrolling won’t help. Reaching out to the people you love around you will.
Go outside. Connect with friends.
None of this post is new or groundbreaking. Smarter people than me were already saying all of this the moment Trump came down the escalator in 2016. These are as much thoughts I wanted to share with you as they are reminders for myself.
Be good, do good.
✌️