Election Thoughts

Haven’t blogged in awhile and I have so many thoughts and feelings and memories swirling around in my head that I thought this might be a better platform to reflect and share. If you weren’t already aware, last December I made the move from Ohio to Scotland to continue my studies as a postgraduate student at Edinburgh Napier University. There are many perks of living in Scotland including the closeness to Europe and easy travel, my camp friends and my boyfriend, insane historical sites and architecture, etc. etc. etc. I could go on and on about how much I love this city, but I do miss the perks of home from time to time. However, today, the biggest perk of living is Scotland, is that I do not have to deal with the Election results head on. I can engage and react and comprehend and make peace with it all from a safe distance away.

That being said, I would like to share my views and what I think about all of this in a non-argumentative way. This is not going to be a post only dissing Donald Trump, and it is also not going to be a post supporting everything Hillary Clinton does. It is simply me expressing myself and how I comprehend this entire situation.

Feel free to also express yourself by commenting and sharing.

Now, before I go into much detail, I just want to say that I do not judge anyone, ANYONE, on their vote. I do not change my opinions of the people in my life based on their differing opinions to mine. Heck, my own family (including extended) have varied opinions on this election. I hope you can treat me with the same respect. What I will say is that honestly, I do not support Trump. I do not trust him, and I do not understand him. I do not understand how people can wholeheartedly agree with some of the things he stands for. I am an open, honest person and if you can help me to understand, I will try, but now, I do not agree with you. Again, I am not against anyone or attacking anyone for how they may have voted, I just do not understand it.

What I do understand is that we all have different views on everything, but that’s what makes elections and TV shows, books, religions, movies, restaurants, fashion, and sports teams so exciting. Differing opinions are what create relationships, debates, conversations, social events, friendships, enemies, passion, and more. Differing opinions keep the media alive and get people talking to eachother. It is important to note, that this does not necessarily mean to argue these differing opinions, but rather to discuss them. There does not need to be a fight about every little thing, but it is fun to have a silly debate with your friends over which Harry Potter book is better, or where to eat on Saturday. These types of conversations keep us on our toes and get us talking and thinking.

This election has certainly got us talking. 

There are a few things I want to touch on, and like I said, I have so many thoughts jumbled up in my head that it’s hard to know where to start. So bear with me as I try to keep this brief.

It was shocking waking up this morning to find out that the next leader of the free world is Donald Trump. Let me get one thing straight, it’s no surprise that I don’t support him, but it doesn’t mean I don’t support those who do. He might genuinely have things that he can contribute to the country, but we do not know. That’s the scariest part. We do not know what he is capable of because he has never taken on politics before. He might find a way to actually “Make America Great Again”.

…but we don’t know. 

We know him as a Businessman, a Reality TV Star, and a man of many woman. We know that he is a family man. We know that his daughter has taken great strides to build up women in business.  We know that his son is a real estate mogul. We know that he has created thousands of jobs for people working under the Trump Organization and his many, many buildings. We do know that Trump has donated his money to several health organizations including the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, Alliance for Lupus Research, Autism Speaks, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, and many more.

What we also know, is that he has zero political, diplomatic, or military executive experience. We know that he has no foreign policy knowledge. We know that he doesn’t understand anything about nuclear doctrine. We know of his obvious disdain over immigrants, homosexuals, current US alliances, and that he is blatantly sexist and misogynistic and racist.

This DOES NOT MEAN that those who voted for him are necessarily homophobic, racist or sexist. Too many people are getting worked up over this. 

We know that his campaign was built on rage and anger against the government and America. We know that he’s vowed to use his Presidential power to sue and jail those who have wronged him. We know he plans to build a wall between the US and Mexico even though a good portion of this country are people from Mexico. We know that he plans on using vicious and radical interrogation techniques on terror suspects. We know that he believes in the right to bear arms. We know that he plans to abolish the right for a woman to abort an unborn child, even in dire circumstances. We know that his wife is not from the United States and will be the first woman in the White House without an ounce of political experience either. We know that not a single living President supported him. Aren’t these red flags to anyone else?

Donald Trump promised to work to “bind the wounds of division” and bring Americans together as the next president of the United States, but it’s slightly hypocritical of him don’t you think? Considering he’s done a whole lot of speaking out against women, minorities, gays, and those with disabilities.

Now, this is not to say that Hillary Clinton would make the best President either. She has her faults as well, and the fact of the matter is that some people were voting for Trump or third parties simply because of their lack of confidence in her. The truth is, Hillary has the political experience, the knowledge of how the White House works, and general inclusiveness towards others-to put it plainly. So if truly given the option between Trump and Hillary, I would choose her. Again, this is my personal opinion and I am aware of the negativity surrounding Hillary and her ability to be trusted. I understand that there are just as many negative things as there are positives, but she has not been the one elected President of the United States so I’m not going to dwell on them.

I understand that people do want a woman to be President one day and I understand that for most, she just wasn’t the right woman. 

There were a lot of third party voters, but unfortunately, we aren’t really a third party country. Maybe one day we will be, but right now, typically we are given two powerful options and a few weaker ones underneath. Realistically, using this election as an example, we knew that our future was in the hands of one of two candidates. A lot of people are complaining about third party voters being “throwaway votes”, but I don’t see it as that. While I do believe that some of those votes could have changed the outcome of certain states, I appreciate that people took the time to make an informed decision and if they did not feel that neither the Republican or Democratic candidate were fit for the Oval Office, they simply did not vote for them. That’s the beautiful thing about freedom of speech and the ability to vote. Yes, it upsets people, and yes it doesn’t always make sense, but it is important to understand that it is an option.

It blows my mind how countries all around the world are anti Trump AND Hillary, yet Americans were too blind to see it. This is the most participation and voice from other nations that I’ve ever seen in an election, and we failed to listen.

I’m disappointed that it has come to this. I am disappointed that we made this happen, not just the fact that a billionaire has become our leader over a politician (not necessarily Hillary), but that these were the folks we chose during the primaries. This truly is a mess and we have to come together to clean it up. I have anxiety and I’m afraid of what happens next. I’m genuinely scared for the future of our country because a lot of it is uncharted territory and unknown. I fear for those with disabilities, minorities, women, gays, immigrants, visitors to the US, etc. I fear for those who he has spoken negatively against, including people in my life that I wholeheartedly support and love.

You might not agree with me, or even see where I’m coming from, but my wish is that you just try to see all sides in order to be kinder to those who lost last night.

Be kind to those around you and remember that there are more things to life than politics.

I am not here to make judgements, or even criticisms. I’m just a twenty something who fears the worst and I hope that I can be proven wrong.

No matter the outcome, we’ve made history.

Might just stay here in Scotland the next four years. 😉

 

 

 

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