Trust no one

I've been terrified for the last 14 months. I'm worried about the children and poverty-stricken families that will die because their health care and meager social safety nets are being systematically stripped away by our government. I feel deep shame that our country continues to allow the blatant killing of black people simply because they are black and the refusal of American juries to hold their murderers and oppressors responsible.

I have come to a point where my heart and brain can no longer take the daily assault of terrible things that the news interprets and predicts for the coming years. Recently, I've found solace in a sentence that I heard as a medical resident: trust no one. 

In medicine you are given information about patients from numerous doctors, nurses, and family members. You also have access to loads of objective data and resources. What I've learned over time is to listen to everyone but confirm with objective resources for yourself. And my final decision about treatments or diagnoses were based on my instincts, AKA I listen to my gut. Because when you put in the time to gather relevant and comprehensive information, your gut is telling you what all that information really means.


The problem with many people today is that they trust their guts to make decisions but without the time and effort to information gather in a way that trusts no one.

This is how Donald Trump was elected. He said what people needed and wanted to hear. He said: I will help the poor people in this country, I will bring back labor jobs, and I will punish immigrants and foreign countries for taking away your jobs. If you watched Fox News, then you heard the same exact message. If you talked to your friends that share your views, then you heard the same exact message. But, if you read or watched other news outlets OR examined the facts of Donald Trump's life, then you would have taken in very different information. And, then trusting your gut would likely have told you to vote for someone else.

So, my message to myself and everyone else moving forward: trust no one. I read an opinion piece by Mike Pence and E. J. Dionne Jr. today. My gut tells me 2018 is going to be a long year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-time-we-will-not-be-silent-on-iran/2018/01/03/d1cfc34e-f0cc-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.2706f617085b

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/were-rushing-toward-the-breaking-point/2018/01/03/7c3c75e8-f0d2-11e7-b390-a36dc3fa2842_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-d%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.034d56e7057c