In the remote part of the world I called home for the past 3 and a half years, there’s a small store with a political poster displayed prominently on the front door. It’s a meme you’ve probably seen online: Donald Trump pointing at the camera, accompanied by text that reads something along the lines of “In reality, the Democrats aren’t coming for me, they’re coming for you.”

A few weeks ago, NBC News published a story about the National Conservatism Conference. NBC reports that “the broader American left was repeatedly denounced as ‘the enemy’…”

I don’t consider myself a partisan—I vote my values, not a party; however, it’s increasingly the case that my values align more closely with the Democratic platform than the Republican one. For some, I’m sure that makes me as good as a diehard Democrat. A leftist. The “enemy.” So I want to speak directly to anyone who feels that way:

I am not your enemy. I don’t think of you as my enemy. I don’t vote the way I do because I want to take things from you or oppress you. I don’t vote the way I do because I hate you. I vote the way I do because I love you.

I want you to have world-class healthcare for free. I want you to be able to live comfortably and support your family with just one job. I want your children to go to college, if they want, for free. I want you to have the freedom to practice your faith in your home and in your places of worship without fear or prejudice. I want your queer and trans kids to live their lives free of the same. I want you to continue to have the right to own and enjoy your firearms, and I want to keep your children safe from those who would abuse that right. I want your elected representatives to listen to you and work to advance your interests rather than the interests of corporations and the ultrawealthy. I want your children and their children to grow up in a world full of all the natural wonders we can still save. I want the best for you and your family. I want the best for all of us.

You may read all of that and think that I’m hopelessly naive. You may think that what I want is impossible, that it can’t happen unless it’s at the expense of others. Maybe you’re right. But, as one of the wisest persons I know frequently reminds me when I talk about the future, you can’t know. No one can. That’s not the way the future works, and the fact that something has never happened before is not proof that it can’t ever happen. Just because something feels inevitable does not make it so. You can make every argument imaginable to show that I’m wrong to vote and act the way that I do, but what you can never do is take away my intention. That’s mine. That’s inviolable. And my intention is this:

To make the world a better place. Not just for me or people who look like me. Not just for my family or people who live in my country. For you. For everyone, everywhere, all over the world. We are all in this together. In the world’s darkest times, you are never alone. In your own darkest hour, I am with you. We are all with you. Always. We are, all of us, neighbors on this beautiful planet we call home.

So be good to yourself, be good to your neighbors, and—together—we can shine brighter than the sun. Together, we can banish the darkness that seeks to turn us against one another. Together, we can build a better future for all of us.