Reflections on the 2024 Election

Election night was hard - really hard. When I went to bed late that evening, the writing was on the wall for most local, state, and federal elections and it drew a picture that was hard for me to accept. But it’s not so much about political parties. Reasonable people can disagree about the best way to move our community, state, and nation forward. I have many people in my life who I love dearly who are either more conservative or more liberal than I am.

What was hard for me to accept was that so many of my fellow Americans had chosen someone whose rhetoric divides us and “others” groups of Americans in ways that endanger them and threaten the promise of our nation. That so many of my fellow Americans voted for someone who unapologetically lies and misuses his public office for personal gain. The Springfield, Ohio lie was a particularly difficult one for my family.

This is not what I was taught growing up that America was all about. Yet here we are.

In the time since the election, I have talked with people who see many things they care about threatened by this new administration. Things like personal freedoms, voting rights, federal programs aimed at helping communities take climate action, infrastructure investments, social safety nets, and laws that protect the environment look to be on the chopping block as this new administration sets about to drastically reduce the size and scope of the federal government.

I don’t know where this election leads given that all of the checks and balances at the federal level are held by a single party that appears relatively well aligned with the goals of the second Trump administration. I don’t know what programs or policies will change or go away entirely. And I don’t know what impact these changes will have on all of our lives. Only time will tell.

What I do know is that efforts at the local and state levels to make progress on important issues will be of paramount importance. So too will be our willingness to speak out against abuses of power and to refuse to allow the national dialogue to harm our relationships across our community and across southern Oregon.

I have seen some rays of hope in that some Congresspeople who might not be expected to stand against certain elements of the President-elect’s agenda appear to be starting to do exactly that. And many groups are organizing swiftly to protect the policies, programs, and rights that are threatened.

Whatever we are called to do in this challenging time we will do together – with each other here in Ashland and with others in communities across the country who believe that a strong, unified nation is one worth fighting for.

As the changes roll out, we will pay attention and support those that make sense while standing resolute against those that do not. And, we will not allow ourselves to be isolated into camps of identity politics. Instead, we will show up for each other, for our nation, and for the natural world because in Ashland, in Oregon, and in the United States of America, we are better together.