EU official used colorful, simplified cue cards in trade meeting with Trump
They may be dumb or an asshole or wrong about X, but they&#x27;re still your brother&#x2F;sister. I don&#x27;t mean Trump, I mean Americans, being a subset of humanity. At the very least, they&#x27;re people you&#x27;re better off working with in whatever common ground you have, than fighting endless and unwinnable battles about someone being stupid or ugly as a distraction from how badly things are, and how muddy and muddled the road forward is... it&#x27;s really incredibly sad to see that nation so torn up. Not over nothing, but also not over anything that warrants <i>this</i>, and the way it&#x27;s treated. Just like Brexit, I get no joy from it. It just sucks, and instead of a growing opportunity, it&#x27;s just used for more wounds. As if people really want it to get even worse; because whatever the lips say, that&#x27;s what the hands are <i>doing</i> says.<p>How much has been <i>achieved</i> by the eye rolling and talking <i>about</i> &quot;the other side&quot; (no matter by whom and at what &quot;side&quot;) since Trump was elected?  What has been rationally been recognized as a problem, and what steps have been taken towards solutions? Where have people made an effort to hear others, instead of their bubble? I&#x27;m sure there are people outside the limelight who actually did do these things, but from what I see being surfaced most of the time, it&#x27;s kind of a shit show.<p>I&#x27;m sure it&#x27;s a scene in a movie or ten, where parents have a real bad fight, but then realize that screaming at each other is something their kid should not see, because regardless of who is right, or who wins, or whatever, seeing them sink so low can do a whole other set of damage. This feels like that movie for me, for too long now. Be wary of things that are hard or impossible to come back from.<p>I&#x27;m not one who gives a crap about badges or offices, but even I feel uneasy how the office of the President of the US is being damaged by this. I say by this, not just &quot;by Trump&quot;. You have to think of the future, too. And by this I do not mean &quot;no criticism&quot;, that is 100% not my point. Adults do have discussions, and they fight, but being demeaning about it is orthogonal to that and not good ever, in no context. And also no matter how wrong or dumb or how much of an asshole someone is. Actually: The more they are, the more you should &quot;win&quot;, and the more important it is for that to be clean and fair, and for that to allow them a route to &quot;join the win&quot; by actually coming around from their own volition and voluntary insight.<p>I&#x27;m not American, I never was in America and there has been no president during my lifetime I <i>really</i> liked. I could not care, but I do. Because &quot;<i>any man&#x27;s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind</i>&quot; as John Donne wrote, and this can&#x27;t go on. You are better than this, all of you. Roughly speaking, &quot;you&quot; <i>invented</i> being better at this, ffs. So take care, of yourself and each other, and as in <i>actually</i> do that. Please.<p>Sorry for it being so jumbled, not sorry for ranting... I adamantly believe in the importance of this thing I don&#x27;t know how to put well.