First-Person Essay by Nic Woods

UPDATE Nov. 7: Democratic candidate Joe Biden has won the presidential election, after the AP called Pennsylvania for the former vice president over incumbent Donald Trump late Saturday morning. Shortly afterward he also was declared the winner of Nevada, for a 279-214 Electoral College lead.

I went to bed Election Day evening not knowing whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden would be sworn in as our next president Jan. 20 and I write this now not knowing the result, or whether a definitive one exists.

I have yet to face that music. I don’t need flashbacks of 2000. 

The outcome, however, is not central to my message – for many Americans, the outcome is the end of the world as they know it, and they are not fine. 

For them, this is Ragnarök.

Setting the Marvel Cinematic Universe aside as it skews the story, in Norse Mythology, Ragnarök is essentially the culmination of a great battle where certain gods rise, others fall, and a new world resurfaces from the ashes.

But one knows nothing of this new world. The story stops there. Even in the mythology, it is what Donald Rumsfeld would have called an “unknown unknown.”

The important thing is we know it happens. As dramatic an ending as Ragnarök is, we know there is an aftermath. 

This is where we stand currently, and what America becomes going forward depends on how we behave toward each other now. 

Gloating, trolling, and conspiracy theories, I hope, are confined to the trash bin of 2020. They were motivational tools to get people to the polls, perhaps, but they will not help in the aftermath.

For those of us who are angry, determine how to use it creatively, not destructively. Learn from the gods of Asgard where destructive anger leads. Attempt to do better. 

A certain sort of trust in each other, and a knowledge that love of country comes in many guises, needs to be re-established, however difficult that is. 

No matter how you feel about it, the COVID-19 outbreak provides a blueprint to reestablish that trust, and every American needs to respect it and its science if we want to live together and boost our economy. If the haphazard handling of the coronavirus continues, it will not go away, and the economic and social consequences will extend far longer than any of us want. 

And we know at this point the handling will remain haphazard. There currently is no federal response and we need to figure out for ourselves what to do if there continues to be no federal response.

We also need to learn how to talk about difficult subject matter respectfully. We have all been told that politics and religion should be avoided in polite conversation, but that leaves us with no way to talk about needs to be talked about. We need to figure out how to discuss both while respecting that the other person opinion may differ. 

Finally, we need to stop sorting ourselves into comfort zones. Be uncomfortable – it will not kill you. We will forever be baffled by our fellow Americans if we only choose to live among the one type we understand. 

No matter how you feel right now, it is a new day, and the world didn’t end, but how you shape that new world is, really, up to you. Your beliefs, and your politics, will not save you. 

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