The Golden Emperor

Friday at noon, the world might just change. We have not had an event like this in nearly eight years. No matter who the person is these are moments that don’t happen very often in the world. A new president will be sworn in and the world will be watching.

Politics has been one of those taboo subjects that people hate getting into. Have you ever had a conversation with a person who you adored and then they told you about how they feel and how they vote and you look at them a little differently after.

This past 18 month has been hard on a lot of people. It was an election that felt harder than most to navigate. A lot of tough conversations were had between people and it just felt so intense during these last 18 months.

As we sit on the even of the next President. I think there are some important topics that we face and there are some issues that if we don’t pay attention to could cost us in the long wrong.

Privacy

Privacy is something that we need to talk about and bring back into the mainstream. We need to demand that we have a better level of privacy from the tools that we use on a daily basis and from the companies that we trust with using their stuff. I know the old saying is that nothing is for free and that you are giving something to get something.

In Trumps America, this is a topic we are all going to find ourselves dealing with. High profile hacking seems to happen on a daily basis. It might have even changed the face of our election and our country. There have never been more talk about encryption.

We need Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple and countless others to stand up to abuses of power. They need to put our privacy forward. They can’t build in backdoors for the government. They need to be more transport when governments and law enforcement send requests.

Organizing

One of the most exciting things that I have been reading about over the next few days is all of the organizing that is taking place. We need to make sure that we are doing this and we are fighting for the things that we want and fighting for the things that we deserve. This upcoming weekend is going to be full of events across the country and in Washington. We need to rally together and not fighting. We need to be finding the common ground and those areas where we can push things forward. I don’t know why that become just a negative and a dirty thing. Some things need to change and some things need to get updated. People who want to change and experiment and help each other out are not the enemy.

If you are protesting make sure you do the research before you go. Make sure you tell people where you are going just in case. I can you what happened me some time. If you can’t make it out to a protest support people who are going even if they are not supporting the side you are on. Encourage and even offer to drop them off at the bus station. Dissent is good, a difference of opinion is good. We need to make sure that we are learning from each other and being open and honest and listening to each other.

Journalism

This is something that is going to be hard for some people. But, we need to support journalism and the people doing real news. I don’t how large that list is. But, we need to find and highlight the people that are doing good work and make sure that they are able to fight and be the voices for us.

These next four years is going to be a time when investigating reporting is going to be so critical in making sure that we find out what is going on in Washington.

Talking

If you can’t go out this weekend and get your voices out there and get with other like-minded people. Write a quick blog post or record a quick video. Now, do this but expect to get some vital and some really angry people out there. Brace yourself for that because that can intense make you not what to share your thoughts.

But, if you are honest and are not sharing wild things that some people thought were facts and just start and dialogue that is something that should be celebrated and that is something we can all rally behind.

We need more people in the shuffle and we need more people raising hell and getting involved with small local issues and the national ones. This is a good time for all us who might feel a lot of feels this weekend as we watch the transition of power. That we can run and that we can make a change and we can make an impact. It can just be in a youtube video or a medium post or it could be helping a local person run for Congress or running yourself for a local office.

The time is too important and things are moving too fast for us to waste time. We need you out there. If really don't want to do any of that. You can watch old episodes of the West Wing on Amazon Prime.