The Value of a Never Ever After

Yes, Trump is no longer president. Yay, very good, happiness. Nevertheless we must never forget that democracy is a duty, a purpose, an endless journey. As in all eternal journeys, we are not done yet. We will never be done and that is part of the magic.

Having grown up with Happily-Ever-After stories, it is so easy to dream that life found a perfect resolution: “And then America lived in piece forever.“ Don’t we do that in our common daily lives all the time? “After I graduate“, “After I get married“, “After I get that job“, “After Trump gets out of office“… I will finally be happy.

Life and governance often mirror each other and this is one of those fascinating instances. We tend to embrace a change of government as a happily ever after, but conflict never goes away, and once we realize that, it is easy to fall into a funk (not to say depression). Don’t we deserve peace after being tormented by something as dystopian as Donald J Trump’s presidency? Hm… Not really.

If there is something we should have learned from the Obama government ,from the drone strikes to the lack of response to the Flint water crisis ,is that accountability is necessary and effective only if consistent. There is a new administration in the White House and it is time to get to work.