shared-intentions-lead-people

 

“People get up, they go to work, they have their lives, but you never see the headlines say, ‘Six billion people got along rather well today.’ You’ll have the headline about the 30 people who shot each other. “

 

 

John Malkovich

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End of World update….

 

So, dear people, it is the 9th of October.

And I wanted to reassure you that except for the sound of people screaming in agony, the annoying heat from the fires of hell and the muted roar of the alien spaceship in the atmosphere above us, EVERYTHING. IS. JUST. FINE.

 

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Well.

 

We woke up today and it is not the end of the world, the world has not crumbled and we all pretty much got in our cars and drove, or got on a bus, went to work … just like any other day.

 

But, yeah, it is a different day.

 

mindset attention clutter universe peopleA plurality of people elected Donald Trump to be the next president of the United Sates – a president, who on the surface is almost the exact opposite of the current president.

 

I started with it is not the end of the world because it is not. As I noted the other day … democracy and a country is bigger than one person.

 

I next mentioned ‘plurality’ for a reason.

 

Trump’s declaration of a movement, the fact that about 59 million Americans voted for a questionable businessman, is slightly tempered by the ‘non movement’ fact more than 59 million Americans did vote for Clinton as well as the additional several million who voted for the 3rd party candidates.

He appears on pace to slightly lose the popular vote, overall, Clinton with 47.6% votes 59,165,000+… Trump with 47.5% votes 5,030,000+.

 

My guess is he will not win the popular vote.

This was not a country mandate … in fact … once again … Trump rode a plurality, just as he did in the primary, to win – not a majority <he would do well to be reminded of this>.

 

Where did he gain his plurality?

 

Well.

 

This was driven as a white rural decision.

He dominated among white men and women in rural areas aged 45+.

 

Sigh.

Here is the saddest part … the past voted for Trump and not the future.

 

Okay.

The second saddest part is that 60% of trump voters hated voting for him.

 

Among the more startling data to emerge from the poll:

negative people grumpy

  • White voters voted 58% for Trump and 37% for Clinton. Non-white voters voted 74% for Clinton, but 21% of them voted for Trump.

 

  • White men opted 63% for Trump and 31% for Clinton; white women voted 43% for Clinton. Fully 53%, however, voted for Trump.

 

  • Among non-college-educated whites, 67% voted for Trump, including 72% of men and 62% of women.

 

  • Among college-educated whites 45% voted for Clinton, including 39% of men and 51% of women (the only white demographic represented in the poll where the former secretary of state came out on top). But 54% of male college graduates voted for Trump, as did fully 45% of female college graduates.

 

I will note that this is NOT an education thing. In fact … while I believe this is reflective of a variety of things I would suggest the underlying societal issue we need to address resides around ‘competency.’ I wrote about it in ‘corner of the bar wisdom’ but if the majority of the rural population is sitting in some bar or barbershop truly believing that they could do the job as well as someone who has the necessary skills & competency … well … you are willing to overlook real qualifications for a job and choose someone based on things other than qualifications.

 

Oh.

 

And the average income of the Trump voter was higher than the average income of the Clinton voter.

 

I end on that because that underscores that this did not end up being about those who have been actually left behind, but rather a group of people uncertain about their future status.

 

To say I am slightly stunned as today the United States, a country that has always seen itself as a beacon that would inspire the world, and a society based on freedoms and fairness has elected not its first female president but instead is handing the most powerful job in the world to a an incompetent man who revels in his own ignorance, racism and misogyny is an understatement.

 

And, yet, I remind myself and all of us … the future is what we decide to make it at this point.

 

The future is what Trump decides to make it at this point.

 

And I retain some sliver of optimism because I have seen far too many people in stuck people movingbusiness rise to the moment and the responsibility.

 

My hope is that he sets aside the rhetoric which he used to brand himself and recognize the responsibility of the job.

 

My hope is that we, the people, also set aside the rhetoric and recognize the responsibility we bear.

 

It is fine to be angry and frustrated and … well … scared or uncertain. But now is not the time to quit.

 

Despite the fact one of the best-qualified candidates of all time lost to possibly the least qualified candidate of all time we must make him accountable and do what we can to assist him to rise to the moment and the position.

 

Standing aside to watch and see if he fails is not an option.

 

We should assume he will sincerely tackle the tasks he promised and we should do what we can to insure that any ‘wins’ we attain reflect well upon us and not just seek to chalk up something in the win column.

 

We need to make him accountable by fighting the bad and encouraging the good.

 

I see no value in hating him nor do I see any value in dwelling on his obvious incompetence … from here on out my job, your job, is to make him as successful as we can – on terms we believe reflect upon what is good for the country, good for our position globally and good for who we are as human beings.

 

I honestly could care less about the future of the ‘political parties’ and where they go from here.

 

I honestly could care less about the future of polling and predictor models.

 

 

I honestly only care about always looking ahead, not dwelling on the past or ‘what could have been’ and making the greatness of America stand up and do what we do … do.

 

Everyone should think about that.

 

Seriously think about that <even Trump himself>.people forget own greatness

 

More people did NOT vote for Trump then did.

Therefore, we who did not vote for him hold his success … and the success of America, in our hands.

 

Look.

 

I am a citizen of America.

 

And most days I get some email from good friends, people I like and respect, with some negative or disaster-like news about some aspect of America’s problems or ‘its falling apart.’ I got more than my normal amount today.

 

I would note that, so far, we have survived 100% of our worst days.

 

I would also note that while I watch the news and it is not really the America I know.

 

It helps that I found a nifty site which reminds me of the America I do know: Good News Network.

 

 

<note: They even have a nice article about how all the crappy negative news affects usHow Negative Headlines Can Impact Your Mental and Emotional Health   >

 

Anyway.

 

I will end where I began.

 

We need to keep perspective. The world has not ended and disaster is not imminent.

 

Back in May I mentioned that we far too often lose perspective by ‘being in the trump make america greatmoment’ … when we make that ‘moment’ becomes the end all and be all.

 

And I have said this before … and I will say it again … moments are moments.

 

They are important as in terms of a semi-colon or a comma … but rarely in terms of a period.

 

We need to maintain perspective.

 

Think of this election as a semi colon moment … maybe a comma moment … and some people lost yesterday and some people won … but all people need to make sure the country as a whole wins.

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Written by Bruce