A Personal Post Election Epiphany...

I am sorry Rural America. I did not know. I live in my little tech bubble in CA with life being plentiful that I so take for granted. I DID NOT KNOW.

Now that the shock of a Trump Presidency and Republican sweep has worn off for me, I decided to educate myself (registered Independent and Poli Sci Major) and wanted to understand the seeds of Rural discontent. What is the perspective of the hard working, abandoned, unemployed factory workers, the ignored, struggling, farm workers, etc....another forgotten America?

As Rural America lay silently in their slumber at the dark end of their Rural tunnel of despair...unseen, unheard, beaten down, ignored for many years...suddenly a glimmer of light was seen from afar at the tunnel entrance. Trump gave them a lighted message of hope that they have not heard for over 25 years. Think of their desperation? To follow a self-proclaimed billionaire who is a Builder on the backs of blue collar laborers and craftsmen he refused to pay in many cases. A man who has a history of hiring illegal immigrants in his companies. A man who buys his steel and manufacturers his retail goods in China and other countries. Whether he can deliver or not, it did not matter. Someone listened and heard their cries and said I will be your champion...a glimmer of hope despite all the bad he said and did during the campaign to offend so many. Give him a chance they said. It was more than a Democrat showing up in Flint, drinking a glass of water and saying...see it is safe if I drink it...never to be heard from again. Trump's Rural message was not just an empty photo shoot. He was offering them Hope that was gone for a long time.

I understand 2016 election results better today and it makes more sense to me. I never understood what Trump meant by saying "Make America Great Again." Like many, I said to myself, that's ridiculous, we are already Great. Yeah, America is great in my big city, tech bubble filled with vast opportunities. As I traveled the country, driving through small county after small county, I wondered why every house had a Trump|Pence sign on their proud lawns. Do what I did, please download some articles dating back 20 years now about the forgotten and ignored Rural America. Their voices fell on deaf ears for a long time. Like stepping over a homeless person in San Francisco, NYC, LA, Chicago, Seattle sleeping on a heated sidewalk vent to keep warm...hurting Rural America was right in front our eyes, but we ignored their faint cries for help and walked around them. Where was our humanity? They asked for help with pride and lost hope in their eyes. I believe you too will have a better understanding of these election results. I was not a Trump supporter because of how he conducted himself as a bad character role model of hypocrisy and fear on so many levels, but I respect our process and realize it is Team America with differing opinions and ideas. I respect and accept the very loud, awakened voices of all those Rural Counties across our great country and am hopeful for a better America...for everyone!