How can you stop the rain from falling down? I have heard so many sad stories in recent weeks that I find myself heartbroken and depressed. Here are just a few of those sad stories.
My friend has three children. One of them announced that he wants to change his sex—become trans, if you will. His family, his school, and his church have all been supportive. All was going okay until Donald Trump came back to town with his many “anti-trans” cronies. Now his mom and dad notice that their child is increasingly anxious. My friend told me that he and his wife decided to remove all knives from the kitchen. It’s heartbreaking.
Another friend is a professor who taught classes centered around racial injustice throughout her career. She wrote textbooks. Two weeks ago, one of her textbooks was removed from the shelves of the Naval Academy. You could say in essence it was her life’s work.
My neighbor’s daughter got her Ph.D. at Columbia where she focused on healthcare. She worked at the Agency for International Development, helping people in underdeveloped countries deal with healthcare issues. Along with almost 10,000 other employees from AID, she lost her job. She has two small children. And, like many of her colleagues, she now spends her days job hunting.
Another friend’s daughter finished her Ph.D. about two years ago and finally got her dream research job at the National Institute of Health. Her funding has been cut. Each day she waits to hear if her job has been too.
I could go on with several more pages of sad stories, but I’ll stop right here.
Think about it. These people are not greedy. They are not evil. They are not seeking retribution. They want to be recognized for who they are. They were doing important work to improve the lives of others.
What makes hearing these sad stories even more difficult is to see the flagrant excess all around us.
Trump’s desire for a $400 million “flying Palace.”
The planning for a ridiculous $45 million military parade. (Gentle readers let me remind you what happened when George Bush had a military parade in 1991 to celebrate the end of the Gulf War. Let’s just say DC streets were not prepared to handle 67-ton tanks and 30-ton Bradley fighting vehicles. Both caused significant damage to the roads. I understand this time metal plates may be installed on the roads which will cost a princely sum, yet another complete waste of taxpayer dollars.)
Endless trips to golf courses involving security and motorcades.
Crazy Trump meme-coin White House dinners for the 220 highest purchasers of these collectors’ items.
The Trump brothers’ trip to Dubai to announce a new Trump hotel.
Jared Kushner searching Albania for a new “Gold Coast” location.
So, what I see now are seriously diligent hardworking people suffering. And unserious people smugly flaunting ostentatious wealth.
With inflation and rising prices looming once these tariffs take full effect, perhaps some kind of reckoning will take place. Let’s just say it can’t be soon enough.
Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.
Francine DeSanctis says
Trump enjoys lumping groups together so he can make decisions. I.e. all immigrants are terrorists, all Medicaid recipients are lazy and don’t want to work, all Demicrats are evil, anyone who disagrees with the illegal policies must be enemies of the State and on and on. Anyone who falsely believes Trump is a patriot isn’t paying attention.
Maria Grant says
Thanks for writing. Agree. I wish Americans were paying more attention.
Reed Rankin says
Unbelievable. And to think you actually know specific people affected by all these Trump policies! Amazing. Love to talk to them myself.
Maria Grant says
I’m sensing sarcasm. It’s not hard to find stories where Trump has negatively impacted lives given that more than 120,000 federal employees have been fired.
Margot McClellan says
Maria,
Thank you for sharing your heartbreak about these injustices. You are not alone and I think it is important for us to continue to feel and be aware of how cruel and wrong things are right now. As painful as it is, we cannot afford to be numb to this.
Maria Grant says
Margot, thanks so much for writing. I totally agree that looking away is not the answer.
Maggie Andersen says
I am one of the people who book has been banned by the Naval Academy–and probably other places. It is maddening after so many yearsof resarch and teaxhing….just to find all the hard work I have to be destroyed by narrow minded people somehow afraid of so-called DEI. Let’s be clear: DEI means standing for diversity eqaulity, and inclusion. If you are against it, does that mean who are for the opposite: uniformity, discrimination and exclusion?
The human cost of what is going is is enoromous AND up close and personal. My senior friends who have had long and powerful careers are having to watch thier young adult children lose jobs in fields intended to help people in need (both globally, nationally and locally). They are havibg to relocate families, hope for a new job when there are now thousands of applicants for each position. Another friend has a disabled adult child who needs to ongoing support that Medicaid provides. Other families can’t get the mental health services they need in a crisis because the hospitals and social services are overloaded.
Have a heart people…people are hurting. I will sruvive the book banning but fully intend to keep educating people. Thank you, Maria Grant, for pointing us to the need for empathy and care.
Maria Grant says
Maggie, thanks for writing. I appreciate your comments and applaud your years of teaching and writing. Your voice must continue to be heard.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Maggie, your comment is a powerful example of
the extent cruelty led policies can destroy our common
needs. It is difficult to comprehend the millions of lives that are adversely affected. Actually, we all are affected when our fellow citizens suffer.
Sarah Oppenheimer says
Do you think it should be an option to even consider ‘transing’ a child? Which means giving them chemicals to forever alter their biology and fertility, to castrate a child, to remove healthy breasts of a child? Sounds like Nazi experimentation to me. Anyone here care to defend that?
Maria Grant says
Gender affirming care is a complicated issue and has been picked up as a political tool for garnering votes. If the care is done correctly, it involves families, social workers, medical doctors, and mental health professionals. Supportive social environments have been shown to decrease suicidal behavior by more than 50 percent.
Wilson Dean says
President Trump envisions ushering in a new Gilded Age through his authoritarian directives. The last Gilded Age in the US that occurred in the 19th century was followed by the Progressive Era when the vast majority of people finally recognized these Gilded policies only benefit a few at the expense of the many. How long will it take Americans to figure this out once again and show the felon/racist/wannabe king and his cult the door?
Maria Grant says
Wilson, thanks for writing. I find it extremely disheartening that the current cabinet is so utterly unqualified. Yesterday’s hearings alone were cases in point with DHS, HHS, State, and then IRS.
Reed Fawell 3 says
What a remarkable conversation this is. Especially given that it’s taking place in the 21st-century. Surely it does not bode well for our future,