Yesterday, my father-in-law shared the below letter he wrote with our family. He's allowed me to share his wise and comforting words with you all, my extended family. It's beautifully and thoughtfully written. We read it together last night with Sofia and look forward to the healthy dialogue it's started.
Peace be with you dear ones. Let's hold
each other close during this time of uncertainty.
THE PATH AHEAD BY DICK ANDERSON, 11/9/16
My dear family:
By a razor thin margin,
our voters have handed over to Republicans the keys to our entire country. The world will not come
to an end. It is
time for the healing to begin and for us to figure out how to come together to
help solve the very difficult problems that have been too long neglected by
both political parties. Each
of us has a part to play in helping to make things better. We need to get past the
grief of loss and immediately start down the pathway toward reconciliation.
For much too long, our
political system has been failing, especially at the federal level. Both Republicans and
Democrats are guilty of grid-locking our political process. Both parties have
stymied efforts to address the real problems that we face: income inequality,
racial tensions, joblessness, barriers to affordable health care, declining
infrastructure, immigration burdens, climate change issues, foreign conflicts,
and many other foreign policy challenges. These are very
difficult problems that need to be addressed by a functioning federal
government. Everyone
needs to pull together to help make it function better.
Let us look to Amy (blog) for
how to begin. She
has reminded us to focus on two powerful words: kindness and love. Let me add two more
words: respect and
civility. Together,
these words form the core of a strategy to help move things forward. Let us start by
addressing the anger that we feel toward supporters of the other side. Let us try to put
ourselves in their shoes and shed light on how they feel. Let us recognize where
there is legitimate pain and suffering. Let us extend our hands
to those who are hurting and have looked to Donald Trump for relief. Let us resist the urge
to lash out at them and blame them for defeating Hilary. Let us speak
respectfully about them and with them. Let us work to find
common ground with them. Let us acknowledge their pain and help to relieve it. Let us help to define
and support ways to help them.
Let us have faith that, fundamentally, our political system is sound and
can work if we give it a chance and work collaboratively with those who have
the power to fix things.
Let us resist anger and
divisiveness. These
are non-productive impulses and they sap our energy. Our country is much too
polarized already. What
can we do to help diminish anger and repair relations with the other side? Let us start by being
more open minded about what we read and hear. Let us believe that
most people are of good will and want to do the right thing. Let us confront
our prejudices. Let
us resist filtering out things that conflict with our values and beliefs. Let us work with the
other side to find common ground that will enable problem solving. Let us acknowledge the
complexity of our most difficult problems and resist thinking they can be
easily solved by “magic bullets."
Let us get past the
shock of the election outcome and the sense of grief over lost opportunities.
It may take some time to move on and we should respect the need for a period of
grieving. But, we
must move on. The
Republicans have been given a mandate to govern and should be expected to move
forward with alacrity. We
should expect they will be able to get some good things done unless there is
significant resistance from Democrats. If new laws are passed
or old laws are undone, we should expect Republicans will get most of the
praise for successes and most of the blame for failures. If Democrats focus on
supporting good public policy and good things happen, the outcome could be
win-win for both sides. This
is not to say that Democrats should lay down and be steam-rolled. If Democrats mainly
focus on obstructing Republican proposals, we should expect a further backlash
against Democrats in the mid-term elections two years from how. I say, give the
Republicans a chance, be responsible in where to pick fights over their
initiatives, and be as constructive as possible in helping to make good
outcomes for our country.
Finally, let us be
confident that there are better times ahead for everyone. We already have come a
long way toward improving everyone’s lives. For most of us, it
already is the best of all times.
Medical care has never been better. The same can be said
about communications. The
whole world is at our fingertips.
We are prosperous in many dimensions. We are a rich country
with bounteous resources.
But too many people are hurting and are unable to share in the good
fortune. Our
challenge is to make our system of government work better for them. This can only happen if
we support collaborative efforts to achieve the common good.
Be of good faith.
Dick
