Knee Jerking

Two things I know about myself: 

(1) I know nothing of global economics. I can barely balance my own checkbook. 

(2) I am grateful I was never faced with the gut wrenching choice between abortion and an unwanted child. I am also grateful the choice is there. 

Last night, I was drawn into two separate conversations about Trumpism. Unwittingly, mind you. By nature, though I may appear rough around the edges sometimes, I am not particularly combative. 

Two things I learned last night, though I probably already knew them: 

(1) No amount of economic prosperity -- no matter what the cause --  will ever change my feelings about Trumpism, which arise out of my own zero tolerance policy for what I believe to be flagrant corruption and shameless pandering to all kinds of hatred. 

(2) There are people who feel so strongly that abortion is wrong that it trumps (pardon the pun) everything else. It is their counterpart to my own zero tolerance, and there is no room for compromise, no gray area. 

I was told, last night, at various times, that swarms of terrorists cross the Rio Grande on a daily basis, and that liberals who counsel young girls who find themselves pregnant mislead them into believing that abortion is their only option. And maybe this wouldn't be such a problem if girls hadn't been allowed to become so, um, loose. I was told that government workers would get paid if democrats would just give billions of dollars for a wall. I was told, also, that President Kennedy wasn't exactly an angel. 

We all have our versions of truth, fueled by a media, on both sides, at least in part, that is driven by viewer bias and pure profit. We are all guilty of what-aboutism. I don't care if Trump's China strategy has some merit (and, frankly, I am too ignorant to know whether it does). As long as immigrant families are treated like animals, and hard-working folks are wondering how they will pay their rent, I just don't care. I am troubled by the reactions of some, suddenly and for the first time directly affected by what I consider to be Trumps's ineptness as a leader (to put it mildly); I have heard people admit, out loud, that because they are finally being pinched, they care. 

After I had a conversation last night about China policy on one hand and humanitarian atrocities on the other, I despaired about both the divide and my own adamance, fueled, at least in part, by ignorance. So I read up on China policy, and my head began to spin. Is it good? Well it depends whom you ask. 

What struck me, as I did my admittedly superficial research, was a meme from China's internet mapping their stereotypes of the west. Norway: Not cold. Finland: Good English. Germany: killed Jews. Netherlands: tall. Italy: so weak. And, my favorite -- Chile: long. 

My head is exploding. The more I know, the less I understand.