After the harsh exchange in the White House between Zelensky, Trump, and Vance, Zelensky wrote to Trump to ask for another meeting and to express his thankfulness and willingness to work with the USA to promote peace and end the Ukraine-Russia war. Of course, my initial reaction was disappointment since Trump acts like a bully day after day in almost all of his interactions with people. Trump never demonstrates empathy, care, or a will to unite and enrich lives other than his own and that of his family and few wealthy others. I'm not a fan of Trump--I'm sad to have such a hateful, bigoted, self-serving, lawless President. That said, the reality is that Trump is the President of the United States, and until he steps down or impeached, we have to deal with him and his like-minded cronies.
Often when I disagreed with bullies like Trump in my life, people advised me to essentially suck-up to them. We saw the Prime Minister of England stroke Trump's ego as he gave him a letter written by the King of England and expressed that the King rarely pens a letter for anyone so this is very special. Trump melted in his chair as he loves any kind of flattery. When working, I watched colleagues stroke the egos of administrators with words and actions all the time--that rubbed me the wrong way, yet those colleagues often got what they wanted in terms of supplies, positions, programs, time off, benefits and more.
When do you stroke egos and suck-up to those you disagree with to get what you want? I want to answer that question with NEVER, however, when you are dealing with programs and priorities that directly support people's safety and lives as Zelensky is doing, that question demands a more thoughtful analysis. I'm sure that Zelensky wrote the latest letter to Trump with the support and advice of his European allies who have a strong grasp of what Trump and Putin are doing at this time--they know what's at stake. I trust that Zelensky is doing what he has to do in order to save lives in his country. I hate that Zelensky has to kowtow to evil bullies like Trump and Putin--it's painful to watch.
As for my own life, like all people, I have my enemies, people who greatly disagree with who I am and what I stand for and people who share in similar work and goals as me. How do I deal with those who "collaborate" with bullying and seemingly unjust actions? I am thinking about this.
As I repeat again and again, when I wanted something of importance in teaching, I was direct which often didn't work. Many who held the purse strings and decision making for teaching initiatives that I thought were valuable were ambitious men and women who climbed the administrative ladder in education quickly without the kind of deep investment many teachers make to teaching well each and every day. Those who were mostly men were not interested in me or my ideas--they were far more interested in the fastest way to climb their personal professional ladders which often meant appealing to people with financial and social power, not necessarily working on ideas that truly empowered all students. I would have been better off working with greater strategy and savvy to achieve the goals I envisioned--the kind of strategy and savvy we saw the Prime Minister of England and France's President employ with Trump.
So as I move forward, I'll think more broadly about diplomacy when it comes to essential efforts and change--diplomacy matters with regard to issues great and small. Onward.
