The last words that Alex Pretti uttered were, “Are you okay?” His concern was directed to a woman who had been manhandled by ice. In typical behavior for a nurse who had cared for very sick people in an ICU Alex demonstrated his concern for the well being of another. I can imagine him asking the same question over and over as he helped some of the sickest people in the hospital to become well again. Now I am thinking that we need to ask this question not just to Americans but to people from all over the world. I wonder how everyone is feeling in this moment in time and I think that is it important that we listen to the answers. 

I know that I am not okay and neither are my children and grandchildren. We are all worried about the chaotic turn that our nation has taken in the last year. I do understand why so many good people believed that electing Donald Trump once again to the presidency would provide a sense of stability after a time when so much tragedy had upended the world. They appear to have wanted someone who seemed to understand what our nation needed and although I do not believe that he was a wise choice, I believe that they truly thought they were doing the right thing for our nation. Sadly what they did was not okay.

The first year of Trump’s new administration has been chaotic almost on a daily basis. He has upended many of the structures and departments that kept the inner workings of our government working smoothly. He has single handedly changed our role on the world stage, indicating that he no longer cares about what happens to our allies. He has used the tactics of brutality against immigrants and long time citizens as well. He wants us to believe that his tariffs will make life better when we are bearing the brunt of rising prices on almost everything that we purchase. He is tossing aside scientific research projects and programs at universities that made our nation leaders in the world. He has made significant members of our communities feel unwelcome and unsafe. College graduates are scrambling for jobs that are becoming more and more difficult to find. Mothers of children with skin that is brown and black and shades other than white are worried about their safety. Instead of stability Trump has given us a government that has rocked the foundations of our daily lives. So of course someone needs to ask us all, “Are you okay?’

In so many instances the answer would be, “No!” While we are wondering why our lives are in such an upheaval the wealthiest among us seem to be the only ones receiving perks in the form of tax relief and support for financing their dreams of making ever more money. The rest of us are finding it more and more difficult to believe that we are going to be fine because right now very little seems fine. We never asked for a new ballroom that we will never see. We didn’t want to destroy our relationships with Canada or France or Great Britain. We liked knowing that other nations would  be around to help us when we needed them and in turn we wanted them to know they could count on us. So no, we are not okay!

We watch the chaos in Minnesota that has been created by Trump and we hear his boasts about how he is socking it to the people there and we wonder how things got this way. Aren’t our presidents supposed to be working for all of the people? Is it right to use our tax money as resources for Trump’s vengeance? Why would he trample so freely on the rights of Americans and use such ugly and illegal tactics to find and deport immigrants just to satisfy his ego? Why do we see his late night tweets that would be unbecoming to a belligerent teenager but allow him to keep threatening our fellow citizens? Does he think this is why he was elected? If so, do the people who elected him actually approve of what he is doing. Do they feel okay?

I could go on and on and on but in truth I have grown weary of waking up each morning and wondering what outlandish insults to our democracy Trump will pull out of his hat just to soothe his own desires. He is as dangerous as a runaway train speeding towards a crowd of people and yet the very people who might stop him have remained mute. They are either terrified of him or they agree with his determination to break everything that we has ever been built to make America great. He is like a bratty child whose parents think he is so adorable that they dare not curb his bad behavior. This is truly not okay!

Sometimes I believe that people are slowly but surely coming to their senses and that it is just a short matter of time before we join together to reel in the horror of what Trump and his people have wrought in just one year. If we have to keep dealing with this for three more years without any relief then eventually none of us will be okay. Watch the series called “After Hitler” and you will see what I mean. When people go silent when anyone among us is not okay the result is never good.