Dear Angela,
I am hopelessly lost. The things I see unfolding on social media, the executive orders being signed by our President, the progress that is being undone by just a signature ... I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't do homework, I can't focus, I don't want to talk to half of my friends because they clearly don't understand ... how do we get through this? How do I get through this? I'm just done.
Sincerely,
Disillusioned and Disgusted
Dear Disillusioned and Disgusted,
The first thing I want you to do is unlock your mobile device -- iPhone, Android, what have you -- and then I want you to go to wherever you keep your social media. Now I want you to press down on that one app that has been making you feel like punching someone in the face just a teensy bit lately and delete it.
Yes. You read this correctly. Delete your damn Facebook. The only thing it's good for is baby sloth videos, everything else is trash.
This is step one in Angela's patented "Getting through the nonsense that is President Trump's administration" handbook. And don't give me any of that "I use FB to get my news" BS, delete Facebook and with the storage you just opened up on your phone, download The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, BBC, Chicago Tribune and any other news app your heart desires.
Facebook has been my number one source of stress during these hellish past few days and there is no better way to cancel out all that negativity than by going on a social media cleanse.
Step two: Stay AWAY from Uncle Bill and Aunt Sue.
We all have those extended family members who aren't very palatable and have slightly racist tendencies (i.e. moving to the other side of the street as a black man in a hoodie approaches, staring obnoxiously at that women in Kroger with the hijab, saying that "Well, I don't believe that all Mexicans are bad people, it's just that ..." etc.)
If Uncle Bill or Aunt Sue ask you at your next family get-together anything mildly political, sneak a beer from the fridge (or a bottle of tequila from the liquor cabinet) and avoid contact at all costs. Familial relations are always the most tense in times like these and while you and I both want your aunt and uncle to be awoken, some people lack the capacity to accept any opinion besides theirs -- their opinion is fact. I guess we can start calling that phenomenon Alt-Opinion.
Step three: Stay informed and stay active.
Fight back. Don't be passive. In the words of one of my favorite mentors at Miami: Show up and show out. Attend rallies and marches and protests for causes you care about that Trump's executive orders are attempting to destroy. There was one just yesterday in Columbus, a rally that resisted Trump's recent immigration policy and demanded that the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines not be constructed. This is democracy my friend, so get out there and start exercising your First Amendment right to petition and assemble.
Join an activist group on campus. Donate, donate, donate. Those $7 you want to spend on a trashcan at Brick this weekend would do a whole lot of good for the men, women and children fleeing Syria.
Stay informed properly. This is another prime reason deleting FB is a good thing -- you must stay far, far away from alternative facts. Support honest journalism. And please, subscribe to The New York Times.
Step four: roll a fat joint and smoke the hell out of that thing.
I know you feel lost, Disillusioned and Disgusted, and I empathize with you. I wish there was more I could say. Seek out counseling when you think you might break (although it may take three months for campus counseling to get you in), turn to your friends when you're feeling alone, vent to your RA if you're still living in a dorm -- it's literally their job to listen to you -- and just hang in there for two more months, that's about when Trump should be getting his ass impeached anyway.
And then I'll write to you about how the hell we're gonna deal with Mike Pence.
Angela Hatcher
hatcheam@miamioh.edu