‘Surprising’ election results prompt wake-up call
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The election of Donald Trump truly surprised me. I was not expecting the result. Day two of letting it settle in and I have had a surprising range of emotions that have bewildered me.
I have never felt myself a feminist in any particularly important way — my generation of women grew up with “rights” that had already been fought for. As a woman, I’ve experienced plenty of uncomfortable moments that plenty of other women I know, have “powered through” to be a tough American woman. I’ve always known that I had the power to say something was wrong and the societal norms to back that up. I am confident in my country; that we have institutions and laws and norms to continue to sustain my rights as a woman and that of our neighbors who are different than us, regardless of what an uncouth celebrity has said to win this election.
I do not think the United States is over because Trump was elected. That would be extreme — as extreme as someone with a different view as me saying that the U.S. ended when President Obama was elected.
I believed the “media elite” in saying that Hilary was going to win because as much as I disliked her and knew that not much would change, she wasn’t saying terrible things about the people in my local and world community. I didn’t like her as a candidate and feel like the Democratic Party messed up when they forced Hilary on voters, even though it was very clear the populist message of Bernie Sanders was favored. I voted for Hilary, though I did not want to. To see Donald Trump insult so many people, it wasn’t about being “PC” or “saying what everyone was thinking” — that is hatred in my mind. My son will know soon enough about hatred in the world, why does he need to know about it from the leader of the country that I love?
I think the election of Trump is a very loud wake-up call that we need to listen better to each other. I apologize for not doing it myself. I disregarded “hateful” Trump supporters and thought there was no way so many of my good, kind neighbors supported him.
I’ve been angry in some sense for a long time myself about the way in which this country operates and I think anger can be healthy, as long as it is not used as a shield to treat others callously. Mainly, I’ve been angry about the economy and massive student debt that many in my generation have become indentured servants for, and the way in which my tax dollars are being used abroad to fight wars that no one even seems to understand anymore, when things clearly need to be funded here at home.
To be called someone with an “elitist” message, that of an “educated social liberal” (but fiscal conservative), by my own father — a veteran and Trump supporter — has been hard and is what has made this election season exceptionally personal.
We all work incredibly hard. I know it’s been a tough climb up for many since 2008, and for some, even longer than that. I graduated college in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, unprepared for the rapidly changing economy. In my view, it has been an uphill battle for all of us, no matter our demographic. Some of us have better adapted to the changing economy, one that is much different than the past 30 years.
Change is wildly uncomfortable. I’m asking to work together; I know we can have a civil discourse and make our country what we want it to be.
