A couple days after the election I was trying to figure out why I was still so upset, sad, and grieving. I think I figured it out. Trump broke the social contract by his words and actions—that contract where we agree to treat people as we want to be treated, to treat others not like us fairly. So when all those millions voted him into office to lead the United States, they broke the social contract for all of us.
We don’t know exactly what the social contract is any more. Will it be the norm to hear racist comments in public now? Will it be acceptable to see women get sexually harassed every where? What is the new norm between us and our society? Exactly how bad is it going to get?
I am grieving without end because a promise has been broken. The underlying societal promise that me and mine will be treated with respect and dignity by strangers, if at all possible.
Trump pushed us off a cliff, along with his millions of voters. So we have an unknown social contract now.
But we also still have our foundation of upbringing, our education, our religion and spirituality, our love for family and friends. We have to use those tools to act as though the prior social contract is still intact: be kind to strangers, stand up against wrong, be a whole person. If we don’t do that, and fight for that, and concede anything to Trump, we will lose and we don’t know all that we will lose. But we will lose together instead of win together.