This is a response to an article entitled "Why I'm a College Student and I'm Voting for Donald Trump." Ms. Dewitt is absolutely entitled to her opinion, as well as her right to vote for the candidate that she feels best represents her interests. As such, I will not embark on "hate" or "rude comments" as she warns her detractors not to do in her article. However, I will systematically refute every claim she makes.
1. Free college will never work.
This is a common point of contention for many, and often an argument I get into with my Baby Boomer parents. The bottom line is, college is the gateway to opportunity, and financial barriers to that gateway can very easily ensure that very smart individuals never reach their full potential.
Morgan gives the example of European countries offering universal education and then implies that the taxpayers have to foot the bill. As someone with a job who pays taxes, I'd love to have my taxes go to educating someone who otherwise couldn't afford it, as opposed to the other bulls*** that my taxes go to, such as paying for abstinence-only sex ed or bailing out Goldman Sachs and AIG.
However, even if you don't agree with the concept of universal education, you have to admit that something needs to be done about the student debt crisis, right? Student loans have overtaken credit cards as the number one form of debt held by Americans.
The cost of tuition is ballooning—the price of one year at a state school in my home state of Ohio is $25,000. The cost of attendance at my institution, George Washington University is around $70,000 a year. I will have student loans higher than my parents' mortgage by the time I graduate.
Ms. Dewitt contends that "the harder I work, the cheaper my tuition will get." As a Disney aficionado, I love fairytales as much as the next guy, but come on. The sad fact of the matter is that tuition is skyrocketing at a rate exponentially higher than the inflation rate.
It doesn't matter if you work 40 hours a week, you will never make enough money to pay for your tuition outright. Morgan either is delusional, or (more likely) has rich parents footing the bill for her education that she interprets as "paying for my own education." Not everyone has the privilege of parents who can pay for school or even the privilege to get approved for student loans (I am privileged in that regard).
As such, any candidate who has a plan to a) Relieve some student loan debt for students already struggling with it, and b) Drive down the cost of college so the barrier to success is lifted, is much better for the American College student.
Doesn't matter who: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, Vermin Supreme—just not Donald J. Trump.
2. The American dream will stay alive.
Not to be nihilistic, but the American Dream is dead. Morgan defines the American Dream as: “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement, regardless of social class or race.”
I've had a very hard time finding a period in American history where this is true. As a white man, I cannot speak to race, but coming from the middle of the Rust Belt, I can speak to the fact that not everyone has unbridled opportunity regardless of social class. It's just a simple fact.
Young people in my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, where the per capita income is $18,000, have much less of a chance to leave their town and be a leader in business, government, etc. than, say, a high school graduate from a city like Greenwich, CT where the per capita income is $93,000.
People from lower socio-economic backgrounds often have to work harder, for example to get into college. A student from Youngstown with sub-par grades who applies to Harvard is not getting admitted. A rich child from Manhattan whose parents made a $2.5 million donation will indeed get in, despite abysmal grades. This has happened; his name is Jared Kushner, and he is Donald Trump's son-in-law.
3. Trump is very accomplished.
Trump has had some business accomplishments, but having accomplishments and being a good political leader are not mutually inclusive. Madonna is an accomplished musician, Ben Carson is an accomplished doctor, Anna Wintour is an accomplished fashion icon. None of those three would make for a good president because being president requires skills beyond "being good" at something.
4. Aren't you tired of politicians?
If by this you mean, "Aren't you tired of corrupt, ineffective politicians" (see: Debbie Wasserman Schultz), then yes, I am tired of them. However, just because some politicians are less than savory, doesn't mean you can throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Politics is a skill, and like it or not, politicians are good at it. Just like I wouldn't want Hillary Clinton giving me brain surgery, I wouldn't want Ben Carson (or Trump) being president.
5. He's confident.
"There’s no question that Donald Trump stands up for what he believes in."
Yes, he stands for what he believes in. Unfortunately, what he believes in is bigotry, misogyny, and isolationism.
