is this what you voted for?
and have you asked "but how?"
Dear friends who voted for this,
There's a kernel of truth to almost everything, and we've seen this ring true as a justification for so much of what's happening in our country right now. But is all of this playing out as you expected? If (and that’s a big if) he's doing what he promised on the surface, have you stopped to ask "but how?"
I understand that humans are biologically motivated to stay in the good graces of our “ingroup.” We have extensive research on this human trait that combines fields like psychology and evolutionary biology. Not shaking up the status quo in our inner circles is a powerful force for silence and, historically, survival.
But when can we no longer look away at what's happening below the surface? When do we become just a little bit curious and brave enough to speak up for our neighbors (who someday might be us)?
When do we remember that the power wielded today in our favor will be used against us someday? When do we decide that our morals and ethics are worth more than our immediate comfort?
We anticipate uncomfortable social consequences for changing our minds or speaking up against the status quo in our community. These expectations make it easier to lean on surface-level justifications for supporting bad behavior without really asking what's happening at a deeper level.
But silence isn't innocent. Those who are silent are accomplices. Only you can decide if complicity with the work of this administration is worth it. This poem, which has been circulating at warp speed lately, offers a stark reminder about the cost of silence.
First They Came
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.
Author, Pastor Martin Niemoller
This poem was written regarding the Holocaust. Many of us look back on the Holocaust and are sure we would have spoken up. We wouldn’t be complicit. We wouldn’t be the ones watching from the sidelines.
But now we are watching our President and his administration round up legal residents and citizens and send them to prisons or disappear them without any proof of criminal activity. Who’s next? When do we draw the line? When do we speak up?
Or do we settle for complicity because it’s more comfortable for now, until there’s no one left to speak up for us?
We can justify so much to ourselves
It’s easy to justify anything to ourselves, particularly when we choose not to go deep on a topic. Living in media silos littered with half-truths and manipulative lies doesn’t help us navigate complex truths either.
But I implore you to ask a straightforward follow-up question about any policy promise or executive action from our current administration. Ask yourself... “but how?”
The answer to that simple question often reveals sobering truths. He's either 1) not doing what the slogan promised or 2) fulfilling his promises through highly questionable methods. Consider: Can my conscience support the "how"?
Maybe you believe the ends justify the means. I hope you don’t. But let’s walk through some examples.
He's tough on immigration. But how?
He sure is. But at what cost? Federal officials are kidnapping and disappearing individuals who've committed no crimes and doing so without due process. They're sending people who are in the United States legally to mega-prisons in other countries, without a chance to defend themselves and despite judicial orders.
They've turned our country into one where a person can be guilty until proven innocent without a chance to defend themselves. If it's someone else today, might it be you or a loved one tomorrow? Is that what you voted for? Don’t forget:
"If you are a citizen and you are casting doubt on the importance of due process, remember this: you need due process in order to prove that you are a citizen." (source)
In short, you're only a citizen if the powers that be say you're a citizen. What happens when the powers that decide you, your child, your neighbor, or your best friend are no longer citizens because... well... it doesn't matter.
immigration is a tool to shift the Overton window
Furthermore, he's done absolutely nothing to promote long-term immigration reform, something we desperately need. Is he solving our immigration crisis, or is he using deportation as a cover to instill fear and create an authoritarian state where we're all afraid to defend our democracy?
Let's use his own words to answer that question. On April 14, he told the President of El Salvador, who is currently holding people from our country illegally (as determined by the Supreme Court), that American citizens are next. It's not about "illegals" anymore.
He told us “home-growns are next” and that El Salvador would “need to build about five more places” to hold American citizens. So the president of the United States proposes, on camera, to deport Americans to foreign concentration camps. And the people in the room laugh. Is that what you voted for?
He's using DOGE to eliminate "waste, fraud, and abuse"? But how?
As Musk and his DOGE kids rifle through government data, including mountains of your personal information, they say they’re saving money. However, reports suggest that DOGE will cut nowhere near the initial estimates in government expenditures and may cost taxpayers money! Those genuinely interested in limiting waste, fraud, and abuse wouldn’t start by firing inspectors general, independent watchdogs overseeing government waste, fraud, and abuse.
Moreover, how can we have an honest conversation about "waste, fraud, and abuse" when DOGE appears to be siphoning large amounts of data from government systems or refuses to touch expensive departments like the Department of Defense?
personal data access
DOGE has been careless, at best, with data access. Many people connected to DOGE are keenly interested in accessing that data to train AI and profit from our personal information.
department of defense spending
According to USA Facts, a non-partisan organization making basic facts about our country and our government more transparent and easy to understand:
"The Department of Defense spent $912 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2024. This was 13.5% of the $6.8 trillion in overall federal spending. The department ranked fourth among federal agencies in total spending." (source)
The Department of Defense can't pass an audit. When the fourth-largest cost center can't pass an audit, wouldn't that be a natural place to start the conversation about rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse?
Yet, our current administration recently announced a $1 trillion defense budget for next year. Not only is that an insane amount of money, but it's also $100 billion more than last year's budget.
Our President said, "We’re going to be approving a budget, and I’m proud to say, actually, the biggest one we’ve ever done for the military,” he said. “$1 trillion. Nobody has seen anything like it. We are getting a very, very powerful military. We have things under order now.” (source)
If DOGE won’t touch DOD, costs as much as it saves, and carelessly fires inspectors general, what does that say about the group’s integrity and intentions? Do they care about our budget, or are they more concerned with our data?
He's making our country safer? But how?
Before the election, I heard hopes that he would make our country safer by not engaging in wars. But he's been antagonistic economically and militarily toward countries worldwide.
He’s also ramping up our defense budget extraordinarily. Why would he do that if he wasn't planning to use that defense budget for something?
Is he making us safer by distancing us from all of our allies? Making China angry with massive tariffs? Being willing to use force to take over Greenland? Calling Canada our 51st state? Bombing targets in the Middle East? Not ending the war that Russia started in Ukraine (despite promising to end it on day one of his administration)?
How do you make our country safer by defunding all sorts of scientific research, much of which supports military advancement? That research is already moving to other countries that are happy to own new technology and profit from commercializing it.
He's making America healthy again? But how?
Sure, it would be great to make America healthy. But how can we support that project without understanding how that goal might be accomplished? This surface-level claim is almost comical in the face of what RFK Jr. and agencies like the EPA are doing.
How are we going to make America healthier again when there are measles outbreaks around the country because our top “health official” is discouraging vaccination and also says, “I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me”? We shouldn’t take health advice from the head of Health and Human Services??! Make that make sense. 🤔
How will we make our people healthier when we eliminate regulations around Clean Air and Clean Water, or try to revive the coal industry, which we know dumps immense amounts of pollutants in the air? The EPA claims that removing or reconsidering these regulations will save money. But they will also have huge indirect costs in the form of public health harm.
What good does it do to remove red dye from foods filled with sugar and processed chemicals? How do we tackle ultra-processed food (UPF) when one of the top doctors at the National Institutes of Health, who’s done great research on UPF, leaves the agency because his work is being censored by an administration intent on concealing good science that doesn’t support its preconceived narratives?
How are we eliminating toxins when our government rolls back regulations around PFAS restrictions and refuses to fund lead remediation in schools?
How are we making low-income Americans healthier when we crush programs like SNAP and WIC, and people can't afford fresh food? How do we promote healthy eating when food prices are skyrocketing due to everything from tariffs to reduced funding for farmers?
Hint: We’re not making America healthy again with any of this garbage.
He's lowering the deficit? But how?
He's not lowering the deficit at all. He's making it worse (by a lot). Large tax cuts for the wealthy and huge defense spending increase our deficit. Lost faith in the American economy due to the current administration’s reckless actions increases the interest rate on Treasury Bonds, which could increase how much the government pays to borrow money to fund the deficit.
According to Treasury.gov, in 2024, the United States paid almost $1.13 trillion in interest on its debt—over one trillion!!
The economic instability that triggered a recent increase in the Treasury Bond rates, which results from the actions of our President and his administration, means more of our tax dollars pay for interest expenses instead of programs and services that make our lives better.
In this case, we don't even have to ask, "but how” is he reducing the deficit. He's not even pretending to care about deficit reduction.
He's making our economy better? But how?
Is he, though? His tariffs crashed the stock market and will raise prices on all sorts of things. Tariffs are a tax on Americans. Maybe we're willing to accept higher prices in exchange for better wages, but common sense tells us that his implementation of tariffs doesn't even support rebuilding American manufacturing and job markets.
His flippant declarations and tariff reversals offer no basis on which companies can reliably move manufacturing back to the United States to (supposedly) create jobs. Effective tariff strategies, at best, are thoughtful, planned, and targeted. Moreover, if companies choose to invest in new manufacturing plants in the United States, they will almost certainly be run mostly by robots.
Don't believe me? Check out how cars are made at this Rivian factory in Normal, Illinois. So much of the production is performed by robots! That's super cool, but it doesn't create prevailing wage jobs that help Americans thrive.
See for yourself:
Do you think it only applies to car manufacturing? Check out the robots in this fun video that pits a chef against robots. It's not hard to imagine a restaurant kitchen staff full of robots and maybe, for now, one chef overseeing the operation.
Furthermore, why would we place tariffs on products like coffee, chocolate, and bananas if tariffs were intended to build a stronger American economy? We will never grow those things in our country. Tariffs on those products are either really stupid or have ulterior motives.
I'm just voting for my wallet; he helps me get wealthier. But how?
You're very selfish if you vote for your wallet with little regard for how that choice impacts others. If that assertion makes you uncomfortable, consider why. If you're okay with putting yourself before others at all costs, I'm sorry to hear that.
Morality aside, is he helping your wallet? Revisit the above questions about markets, tariffs, jobs, scientific research, and robots (or AI). They don't look promising for our country's future.
We still need to go deeper, though. Your wallet has prospered largely because the United States has been a liberal democracy where the government is generally predictable and reliable. The United States has long been considered the safest place to invest money because the government respects the rule of law and manages our economy with predictable and rational logic.
Our current administration no longer represents these foundational qualities. Flippant global trade policies, a lack of respect for the rule of law, and targeting private organizations and individuals who disagree with the administration's perspective offer investors little faith that we can be counted on to protect their investments in good times and bad.
I guess Americans voted for this. But I'm not really sure we actually voted for this?
He’s doing what he promised. But how?
"He's doing what he said he would do. I like that he's following through on his promises, unlike most politicians."
I'm not sure that's true. I guess it depends on what you expected him to do. When we ask, "But how?" we often see that he's not executing the spirit of his promises.
Even if we assume he's doing what he promised, do the ends justify the means? Some of his policies are cruel, and he is lawless. He’s a next-level liar with non-existent morals. He wants to rule the world as an authoritarian. Are you more focused on honoring promises than by the means with which those promises are supposedly honored?
Would you accept "the means" of his policy enactment if they applied to you? And if not, why are you okay with them applying to someone else?
I’m as disappointed by many of his policies as I am by the admission that people like, or are willing to overlook, his methods of execution. May we not forget the power of love.
Sincerely,
Your friend, who is deeply saddened by so much hate, disdain, disillusionment, and silence
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Yes! You spoke so much truth