I Can’t Stay Silent About U.S. Current Events

Trauma Comes In Different Forms

Warning: I get political in this article. Rest assured, I will continue writing about trauma recovery, personal development, and spirituality. My political posts will be supplements. I may create another newsletter for them.

For the past two months, I haven’t been very consistent here. I experienced reactions to the allergy shots I get weekly. Thankfully, taking the antihistamine Xyzal an hour before my appointments stopped the reactions. However, two weeks ago, I caught the flu. I am still sick, but I feel better. January has been a rough month for me.

January has been one hell of a traumatic month for Americans. Los Angeles burned to the ocean, 21 mass shootings occurred throughout the nation, with 19 people killed, and a U.S. Army helicopter collided with a passenger plane and killed all on board both aircraft. Oh, but that’s not all. Since Donald Trump took office, environmental regulations have gone bye-bye, product standards have also gone, mass deportations have occurred, and federal workers may experience a mass layoff.

I didn’t intend for this newsletter to become political, but I can’t keep silent. A source told me about the memo titled “A Fork In the Road,” sent by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to federal government employees. The memo offers them a “deferred resignation,” beginning immediately, with pay and benefits until September. The offer stands through February 6. My source says that one mistake and a federal worker is out.

Trauma is not just abuse, neglect, or natural disasters. Trauma also happens when people who work for government agencies receive notices that they may lose their jobs. These people work for agencies that keep us safe, our environment clean, etc. They are not enemies. I can’t stay silent when the people who keep the government running might lose their jobs.

I also can’t stay silent about what is happening to immigrants. Trauma can also come when a hardworking, non-criminal undocumented immigrant ends up caught up in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid. Trauma happens when natives of the U.S. get picked up by ICE because they are brown. Non-native citizens have also been detained.

There is a famous poem by Martin Niemöller called First They Came, and it expresses why I am speaking out.

First, they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

What We Can Do

My source asked me to contact my senators and House representatives and have people I know do the same. They said that government workers would be under scrutiny and could be fired for one mistake. And that, my friends, is traumatic. Feel free to contact your senators and House reps on that and any other issue.

You can also. Inform yourself. Subscribe to newsletters that let you know what’s happening. And share my political posts with friends, family, and social media so others can stay informed.

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