"If Trump wins, I'm moving to Canada."
"Top Countries to Flee to if Trump Wins."
How many times have we heard those words or seen an article with that title? It's been too many times, as far as I'm concerned. As a Wabash man, I am taught to keep fighting the good fight. Fleeing because an orange Hitler wannabe got elected is not in line with my Wabash values. It is not in line with American values.
America was built by those who fled their homes due to strife in their homelands, and by those who were brought here against their will, in order to have a better life. Fleeing is an insult to their legacy. This is particularly true in the case of white Americans, the majority of people who are saying that they will flee if the worst happens in November. White people who dominate this country and claim that they built it now want to flee because of their own negligence. What happened to the America where you build yourself up and push through whatever comes your way? Where are the Libertarians who incessantly quote the Founding Fathers? Have they already fled or have they gone underground and begun preparations for the next civil war to grip the nation?
As a nation, we are in a phase that is similar to that of Weimar Germany. The people are increasingly dissatisfied with the "establishment" politicians such as Hillary Clinton and John Kasich (R-OH). As such, more charismatic politicians who are on the fringe, such as Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Donald Trump, are gaining ground like wildfire. While, on one hand, this is good for the nation, on the other it is bad. As a race-based country with a dark past, Trump is acting on white fears and anger. There have been a lot of pushes for social reform and progress that have enjoyed moderate success.
As a consequence, there is also a lot of backlash, which Trump and Cruz are acting on. Recently, Trump asked supporters to raise their hands and pledge to vote for him in the primary. The scene was eerily similar to a Nazi rally. Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The past is being repeated before our eyes.Trump and his supporters can claim that they are not Nazis, but the salutes and the poisonous rhetoric is proof enough that the man is the American resurrection of Hitler.
As grim as this sounds, we must remember that America is a democracy. As such, those of us with suffrage have the moral obligation to prevent this monster from entering the White House. There is still time for the Republican Party to save itself and nominate someone else (hopefully either Rubio or Kasich) and there is still time for our country to save itself from a revival of the Third Reich. Americans, if you love your country, then you will vote this November instead of fleeing.
