Stop Politicizing Everything and Focus on Solutions

I've been glued to the news and unfortunately to social media following the July 4th catastrophic floods in the Texas Hill Country.

But I have also been glued to friends who have been affected, who's friends have been affected. To my nieces who were down the road at their camp and had to leave and face a harsher reality than they ever needed to see at their ages. I have been glued to family who is trying to find peace and comfort while battling the rumors and the constant barrage of gut wrenching updates after gut wrenching updates.

I have been seeing the despicable comments, on X and TikTok and Instagram made by people who are turning a natural disaster into their viral moments of hate and vitriol. People need to stop politicizing everything.

It was one thing watching it day after day, making my body and my choices a political debate, and citizenship and censorship, a political debate. Watching friendships sever and communities divide over hatred, speculation and disassociating or only associating people and politics.

But seeing it occur in the realm of a natural disaster is something else. I don't care who voted for whom, when they lost everything. I have lived in a "flash flood" area for majority of my life, both growing up, at my summer camp and into adulthood. I have lived in earthquake zones and even climbed dormant, but not dead, volcanos. We make choices to live and travel and take chances in life, because otherwise where can we go? Where can nature not find us? Tell me. Do you know?

Where can I hide my body and my choices? Do you know? Why do you get to choose those things for me?

I remember years ago asking for prayers from friends while my parents were evacuating on the eve of what would come to be a major hurricane that destroyed much of my hometown and being met with "why would your parents choose to live somewhere that is hit with hurricanes? Isn't that their choice? Why should I pray for their decisions?" He chose judgement and anger instead of sympathy and compassion. I've heard "why would they not have cellphones when they are in a flash flood zone?" because kids need to be kids and let adults know what is going on in the world that seems to be set on fire every time we turn on the news. The adults had phones.

Should the warnings have been stronger and louder? Should evacuations have come earlier? Is answering those questions going to bring anyone back or put homes back together?

Here are some questions I implore you to ask:

What can I do to help?

How can I get involved to help this from happening again?

Who needs my prayers? What should my prayers be?

If my hands are idle, but my pocket book has some extra change, where can I send it?

You can see that natural disasters...they cannot be stopped. But warnings can be better. Focus on the victims, focus on who needs help NOW, because we can't change what happened then. It's awful and hearts are breaking, every single day. But the hate spewed accusations aren't helping anyone. Let them get angry, while you get help. So again, stop politicizing and focus on solutions.

I see how everyone makes everything political, but there is a time and a place and none of them allow for hurting those more who lost everything. None of those offer solutions to those who are left with nothing. So instead of spewing hatred towards a red state or a blue state, a MAGA voter or non MAGA voter, how about during one of the worst (unpreventable, I might add), natural disasters in our lifetime, you just offer prayer, hope, donations, dollars, and community.

And when it comes time to making a change on the hill or in the laws...you show up then. When your 15 minutes isn't part of your vitriol, but your mission is part of your change.

That's it. Rant over. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

river and rocks