How to Escape the Chinese Finger Trap of the 2020 US Presidential Election
An Open Letter to My Fellow Americans,
I’ve never been a particularly patriotic person, but this year I have come to appreciate and care for my country in a way I have never experienced prior. I see its flaws and beauty more clearly than ever, and with that has come a newfound sense of responsibility. With the election coming up in a couple days, I want to send this message out to my fellow Americans. I sincerely hope it will be heard.
There’s an incredible amount of anxiety surrounding this upcoming US Presidential election. And it’s a strange situation. So many are not happy with the options, and are just voting against the other major party’s candidate, yet both sides are more desperate than ever for their team to win. Or I suppose, more accurately, for the other team to lose.
On the Left, there’s fear that Trump is destroying the foundations of our democracy by casting doubt on the validity of the election, and that he won’t concede if he loses. There’s fear that he may rile up his base to violence. Should he win a second term, there’s fear that he’ll amend the laws or constitution so that he can stay in office longer than the 8 year term limit. There’s fear that he’ll promote further division, strip rights and protections of LGBTQ and other minorities, dismantle Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. There’s fear that he’ll empower ICE to continue brutal deportation practices, and that many more Americans will die unnecessarily due to his Coronavirus response.
On the Right, there’s fear of censorship and authoritarianism. There’s fear of losing freedoms and of being unable to provide for and protect loved ones due to increasing government restrictions. There’s fear that under a Biden/Harris administration, Critical Theory and “anti-American” sentiments with the power to dissolve the enlightenment values of Western Civilization will spread, unchecked. There’s fear that the Democratic Party would be empowered to pack the Supreme Court, and that Antifa and BLM violence will be emboldened. There’s fear that Biden wouldn’t be held accountable by the media, that he’d roll over to China, and that he may step down and have Harris take over midway through his term.
In this context, where both sides see the results of this election as an existential threat, there’s also fear about how our fellow Americans on the “other side” will react to the results of the election. A poll commissioned by the bipartisan nonprofit, Braver Angels, shows that over 50% of Americans believe that the US will see an increase in violence as a result of the election. Instagram is temporarily hiding new posts from the #civilwar hashtag, and businesses around the country are boarding up to prepare for potential election-related unrest.
It’s amazing that we’ve come to this point. There’s been a surreal feeling throughout 2020, that we’re living through some major moments of history as they’re happening. Undoubtedly this upcoming Presidential election is another.
It’s clear there’s much to fear, but am I afraid? Honestly, no. Once I have done all that I can, the future will come regardless of my fear, and I truly believe that we can create a better outcome through hope, faith in our country, and love for our countrymen than we can through fear.
There’s a gag toy (at one time used as a torture device by Lao Tzu, as the story goes) called a Chinese finger trap. It’s just a simple cylinder of woven bamboo, but when you insert your fingers into either end, they become trapped. The more you pull and try to escape, the more the trap tightens. Instead, the only way to free yourself is to stay calm and push, rather than pull, towards the middle.
These finger traps teach us to triumph by doing the unimaginable: embracing one’s own powerlessness to force an outcome. Freeing yourself from the trap is imperative, to be sure, just as avoiding civil war and protecting our democracy, with all of its diverse members, is crucial for us all. However, as with the finger trap, in the case of this election, we cannot and will not accomplish these ends by struggling against the things we have no power over. While counterintuitive, there is an incredible strength in actively turning inward; after doing everything you can, accepting that there is nothing more to be done but recenter yourself, regain perspective, and become a voice of calm to your sphere of influence.
This is not about ignoring reality, and it’s not about complacency.
This is about embracing the reality of things we cannot control, and intentionally returning to the things we can.
Vote, phone bank, volunteer at an election center, and then take care of yourself. Take care of your loved ones. Take a walk, do yoga, turn off social media and enjoy your family, do something kind and helpful for the people around you. The media, social media, and the two major parties are sure to try to whip us into a frenzy. It’s when we’re afraid and struggling against what we can’t control, when we’re externalizing that fear and stress onto other people, that we feed the hate and division. The best thing we can do this Tuesday is to focus on our own emotional wellbeing and mental health, and be patient with the democratic process.
While it’s become common this election cycle to say that people should be angry and should be scared, just like the Chinese finger trap, the more we give ourselves over to those emotions, the more it works against the outcomes we truly want. This election marks a crucial moment, to avoid devolving into a reactionary spiral of hatred and revenge, we must cultivate in ourselves the type of inner world that can give rise to the just, free society we aim to create.
Do whatever you need to do to find your inner peace, and don’t feel guilty about it.
There is real work to be done, but this is a crucial part of it.
Though I am not religious, I’d like to conclude with the Serenity Prayer.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
Be well,
-Stacia
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