It’s been a strange & very long week, but I can’t help but feel like it has ended with hope. I don’t often talk about politics here on Mama Geek, but it felt odd to not talk about what is going on in the world, especially after the year we have had.
With two daughters to raise, seeing the first woman elected to the White House in America is something to be talked about, and celebrated. I want the girls to see that not everyone in politics – in any country – is a middle-aged white man.
Of course, we were also very happy to see Trump voted out of the White House. I know we are not American, or even live there, but it can’t be denied that whoever sits in the Oval Office has a huge impact on the whole world. Donald Trump has been a cancer upon modern society. Casual racism, and indeed discrimination of all types and openly selfish behaviour, has seemed to be getting much worse, both sides of the pond.
With Boris Johnson acting like a washed-out photocopy of Trump, the UK hasn’t been the nicest place to live this year. He has dismissed so many valid concerns of the UK’s minorities and shown clear disdain for anyone & everyone who lives outside the home counties or doesn’t earn big bucks. I don’t think Joe Biden was wrong when he called him a “physical and emotional clone” of Donald Trump, who prides himself on his divisive style of leadership.
This year has exposed the inherent selfishness of so many in society, who aren’t willing to take simple steps to protect the whole of society from a pandemic. People openly spout conspiracy theories about the dangers of Covid-19 being exaggerated by the government as a means to control us, all while hundreds of people die each day.
Of course, the slow & initially dismissive reactions of both the British & American governments haven’t helped matters (and neither has Boris failing to learn from his mistakes!). But, again, I feel as the political & societal atmosphere over the last four or five years has paved the way for such unashamed selfishness to be commonplace.
Let us hope that, with Joe Biden and Kamela Harris pledging to heal America’s soul & tackling the divisiveness in their country, it will allow the UK to follow in their footsteps… and maybe we can take a good hard look at who is making the decisions in this country, and tell them to do better. Let’s hope that this is the beginning of the turning point of modern society, which has become increasingly unpleasant. For I fear for our soul, too.
