Create & DO. More now than ever before...

I just posted this rant on Facebook. But I thought I'd bung it here too. As a reminder. To keep momentum:
We voted to come out of Europe and I was stunned. In fact, that's a pathetic choice of word for how I felt. I didn't see it coming - I thought that UKIP's rhetoric appealed to only a few.
Only then we began to realise how out of touch we all were with one another in this country. I see that as one positive, at least. It's time to face up and deal with it.
Then I saw American friends on social media laughing and sneering at the Brexit situation. That made me livid - there was nothing funny about Brexit, nothing funny about the future of millions living, and those yet to be born, drastically altered forever by a campaign of rhetoric. Nothing funny can be found in the subsequent spike in racism, homophobia, ageism, classism that began to spurt out like vomit through closed fingers on the hands of this country. This continent. This world.
It surprised me then how little they seemed to grasp the real pain that Brexit had caused and is causing us. Nor the relevance of that vote on the whole world, including their own nation.
So this US election result didn't shock me.
I was hoping I was wrong but many of us over here saw it coming - we'd just been through it here. Now it's time for America to have it's own mea culpa. But you won't see us Brits sneering at them - we understand perfectly how it all came about. This is their Brexit.
Yesterday Sami called me "Mrs Politico-Facebook" . Social media is a weird phenomenon: Feeding back to us everything we choose to believe (I didn't come up with that, Adam Curtis did, but he's right). Judging by everyone I followed on all platforms, I was CONVINCED that Labour would win the last general election. And then it dawned on me that the internet only feeds me what I want to see. You browse for a new lawnmower on Argos - and then for weeks after, Facebook and Google are popping up adverts and advertorials for new lawnmowers.
And so I realise that me writing this achieves little, if nothing. And that's fine because it's like a diary, I've said it and got it out and it feels better. If you choose to read it, that's very kind of you.
The best US election result-related post I've seen was written by my dear old friend Rae Earl: I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her,
"...The reaction to extremism has to be something more creative than more extremism. It's money where your mouth is time. We need the scientists and the writers to create. We need the comedians to be funny. They've got good raw material. Moreover we need people to get into politics instead of talking about it. The cynicism about the system per se has to stop. Moaning just doesn't cut it anymore. We need CONTRIBUTORS...Trump is a vile aberration but none of us here are without some power. Well, BOLLOCKS - I am. I just refuse to live in fear induced paralysis because you know what - that's what people like Trump want. Tits to it. It's time to DO..." and that is why I Iove that woman, our political rantings go back to when we were 11. Only then it was about Thatcher.
But that is where I'm leaving this. Yes I like to air (too much) on social media, it makes me feel better and feel relevant and included and it passes the time. But it's also up to me, each and every one of us to DO.
Last night I watched a fabulous speech posted by Peter Bramley of one of Rose Bruford's 2nd year students who happened to have their political speeches module fall yesterday. A young American drama student who delivered an impromptu heart-felt response to his country's election result. Perhaps I can share it here if Peter doesn't mind.
I realised that as long as there are people like him around, the world will be okay. We need to multiply that and we need to DO. Do what Rae said, and with this, be kinder to people on the tube, at the check-out, in the car, in the bus queue. Demonstrate in the little gestures that we are all in this together.
There is an opportunity here to fix things and turn the tide. It starts inside every one of us.
And I shall continue to post long-winded bollocks on facebook - it makes me feel better by getting it out there. x