My Personal Observations On The State Of America
I tried to make this my article for last week, but I couldn’t do it with a clear conscience. I was spewing hate and pointing fingers are people who were just incredibly hurt over the election. But now, after living post-election for the last week, I feel like I can give a more accurate and logical interpretation of my experience with this whole situation. Most of the people who read this will probably know me from my persona that I created, named “Free Hugs Guy.” This persona started the day of the election results. Being on a mostly progressive and liberal campus, everyone was VERY upset, understandably so. I remember just going to breakfast that morning and seeing the expressions everyone had on their faces - just complete hopelessness. I felt like if someone didn’t do SOMETHING to brighten the mood, there would be outburst of hate and maybe violence.
So I said fuck it, went back to my dorm and wrote “free hugs” on a piece of printer paper, and taped it to my chest. Then I went around campus, just asking people if they wanted free hugs, and I received mostly affirmation. The reason why I did this was to prove that no matter who you supported in this election, we all have at least two things in common. The first thing being that we all share this planet, and the second being that we all have the ability to love each other. How do I know this? I believe it to be impossible that I did not hug at least one person with different political views than the majority of people on this campus. The response I mostly got when I hugged people the days following the election was “good for you man” and “spread the love, we all need it”.
Do you know what is fucked up? We NEED to spread the love. I’m not going to pretend that I know jack shit about politics, but the way BOTH political parties are acting in this election is terrifying. There is hate on both sides. Here on a more liberal campus, I feel like if I even mentioned Donald Trump’s name in ANY way that isn’t derogatory, I would be ostracized for it. On the other side of the spectrum, I was talking to my best friend who’s on a conservative campus, and he said the opposite. If ANYONE mentioned Clinton’s name in a way that isn’t derogatory, they too would be ostracized for it. This is FUCKING SCARY. I’m not take sides on this. It’s seeming like no one can even listen to someone with a different opinion, and that’s a huge step in the wrong direction. Even if you don’t like someone else’s political views, you have to respect their point of view- not because it’s polite, not because it’s expected of you, but because we all need to in order to survive. If we have one half of the country fighting the other half, then it’s game over man. So PLEASE - even if I only reach even one person - I would say go against the current and at least understand that just because someone thinks differently from you, it does not make them a bad person. If this doesn’t happen, then we don’t need to start another war with whoever-the-hell. We will already at each other’s throat in this “nation.”
I know for a FACT that WE ARE ALL capable of loving each other. In regards to the Free Hugs persona, I’ve gotten nothing but positivity, most of these people were strangers. Just the fact that these people didn’t know my political views, gave me a hug and said something kind, gives me hope that as a country, we can learn to accept that we all share this planet, we can all spread the love, we can all love each other, we all are humans, that’s our base connection. So please, PLEASE now more than ever, we need to learn to love each other, despite our differences, even if you don’t agree with what I’ve said, just know that no matter what, I love you.
Love,
Free Hugs Guy, AKA Liam Carroll
