God knows this isn’t a place I like to get loud or controversial, because Career, but some things are important enough to do it anyway:
If you’ve been throwing your support behind the actions and policies of our current administration, this is the time to reexamine that support and your values.
This is the time — not “later,” not “if things start looking bad,” but now — to ask yourself if your personal values really align with the things you’re currently standing behind. It’s time to ask yourself how many excuses you’ve made to square what you’ve been seeing with what you truly believe.
Because the more excuses you allow yourself to make, the more excuses you’ll force yourself to continue making.
It’s okay if THAT person was killed, because they should have just complied with orders.
It’s okay if THOSE people are treated inhumanely, because they broke the rules.
It’s okay if THOSE people suffer, because they got themselves into that situation.
It’s okay if THAT person’s rights are violated, because they’re a bad person.
It’s okay if THOSE people feel unsafe in their own homes, because if they aren’t doing anything wrong, they won’t be targeted.
It’s okay if THOSE people are silenced, because their beliefs aren’t right.
It’s okay if THOSE people are threatened for protesting and recording — if they didn’t want to be roughed up, they should have stayed home.
It’s okay if THOSE people are threatened with prison or death for their speech, because they’re endangering our strength and unity.
All of this is obviously fine, obviously, because there’s a reasonable, rational excuse right there for everything that’s taken place. If it did ever get out of hand, if anything ever happened that didn’t have a reasonable and rational excuse, of course you’d recognize it and speak up.
Right?
I’m not going to demand that you publicly disavow your previous political leanings and, like, pledge allegiance to an equal but opposite cause, or something — that’s your business. But I am going to ask that you take a serious, honest look at your actual, personal beliefs and how they line up with the worldview you’re currently supporting.
Throughout life — and I’m not talking about times of political upheaval, I’m just talking about life — we’re given to look back at the Us of a month, a year, ten years ago and ask ourselves if we’re proud of that person. This is the time to ask yourself if Future You will be proud of the person you are right now.
The answer to that question is absolutely not even a little bit of my business. I’m not going to ask. I’m only going to ask that you ask, and that whatever the answer is, you take it to heart. But I’m also going to ask you to ask it now, because the longer you wait, the less chance you’ll have to make good on your answer.