Half of the room
Author illustration from AI-generated image (Imagen 3/Gemini)
Gallup’s most recent survey (from Jan 21-27, 2025) indicates that 47% of respondents approve of the current president’s job performance. In any generic group of folks, that’s roughly half of the room:
Half of the faces on the Zoom call
Half of the patients in the waiting room
Half of the customers at the grocery store
Half of the colleagues in the office suite
Half of the board members at the monthly meeting
Half of the diners at the restaurant
Half of the fans at the basketball game
It weighs heavily on my heart because I’ve begun noticing the “half” phenomenon everywhere I go, and my first instinct is to wonder which half they’re on. Do I trust this person, or are they a Red-hatter?
Perhaps that sounds jaded or judgmental. Indeed, I often hear the retort that we should all “agree to disagree” on politics but still remain friends. Believe it or not, I do agree with that sentiment, but only when it comes to differences of opinion like:
Should that intersection have a stop light or a roundabout?
Should my county invest more sales tax revenue toward parks or pothole repairs?
Should the local school district switch to block scheduling?
Should College Algebra be the default course for college students, or should General Education requirements include multiple math pathways?
Should our municipality provide tax breaks to incentivize new business development?
Should my state legalize gambling, and if so, what should the proceeds be used for?
What must be excluded from the “agree to disagree” scenario is the question of whether other human beings ought to have the same liberties and rights as you do.
Frankly, what that communicates to me is that half of the people in the room …
… have no qualms with an unqualified, unelected rich dude calling the shots.
… believe the government should control a woman’s medical decisions.
… want nothing to do with supporting poor families but don’t mind billionaires hoarding more wealth than the entire middle class (aka, the middle 60%). And that’s just in the U.S.! Worldwide, the top 1% own more than 95% of the rest of humanity.
… are too fixated on others’ genitalia and believe that trans people are more of a threat than predatory men, despite likely not knowing any trans individuals personally.
… start conversations with, “I’m not racist, but …”
… are pro-fetus and pro-death-penalty, but not pro-free-lunch-for-schoolchildren.
… are ok with the notion of sending U.S. citizens to El Salvadorian prisons.
… think it’s a fine idea to arbitrarily rename an international body of water, yet can’t bring themselves to use another person’s preferred pronouns.
Your worldview is only as broad as your lived experiences and your openness to learning from others’ lived experiences. What you don’t know and don’t care to educate yourself about is far too easy to judge. Do better.
References (in case anyone cares):
Presidential Approval Ratings. https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx
El Salvadorian prisons. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/05/nx-s1-5287670/trump-el-salvador-americans-prison
World’s top 1%. https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/worlds-top-1-own-more-wealth-95-humanity-shadow-global-oligarchy-hangs-over-un
