November 8th might certainly go down in history as one of the most bizarre elections with two very colorful candidates in the form of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. With most feeds simply filled to the brim with people’s opinions on the election it is easy to get lost in the sea of information and opinions floating the void that is social media. However, regardless of your feelings on the election and despite the criticisms of both parties, there are several fundamental points that voters should be aware of.
I feel at least that the election of Donald Trump came as a surprise to most people and in the wake of his defeat of Hillary Clinton has left many people wondering just how he was able to achieve the needed votes. Whether we like it or not, Trump was democratically elected and I cannot help but disagree with violent demonstrations in areas such as Portland where peaceful protest has turned into harmful displays. Similar to the criticisms aimed against movements such as Black Lives Matter which has been accused of destruction of property and violence such movements cannot further their cause through inherently alienating actions.
A major issue in the divide of political beliefs in American unfortunately stems from our dual-party system that at present encourages opposition to the other side. However, instead of actively engaging the other side which to the credit most average people would, it is the more extreme and vocal element that garner the greater share of interest. The greater attention paid to these groups perpetuate through social media and indeed the greater amount of mainstream media that often pulled attention away from other issues did not play a favorable card in anyone’s hand.
A great danger to the process of democratic elections is the lack of communication between both parties. In his rather passionate rant, Johnathon Pie claims that the pursuit of social justice and attacks on freedom of speech may have tipped the balance of favor over to the Republicans. Conversely, the argument can be reversed on the right if the circumstances had played out for the Democratic Party. It is perhaps more indicative of the response of human nature rather than the actions of one party in a greater context. It can be thus viewed that while Pie can state some valid points, it should, of course, be taken with a grain of salt.
Pew Research reveals a highly skeptic voter base with Democrats and Republicans whilst disagreeing on the importance of issues such as employment in the United States, guns and immigration found that a large body of voters all felt that the changes in the country were rather minimal since the 2008 election. Despite the expansion of social programs and the passing of acts such as the legalization of gay marriage, an evidently large group of voters felt it was not enough. As in many previous elections, the millennial vote was lower again though non-white millennials showed a general higher support for Hillary. In my opinion, Hillary tried very hard to appeal to a generation that was far more favorable to Bernie Sanders and felt he was snubbed by his own party.
The loss of much meaningful discussion to give way to rhetoric and hyperbole which unfortunately can also mean that the sarcastic or sardonic content is also left by the wayside as the divide between arguments and attempts of understanding are therein abandoned. Instead of attempting to reach the other side, both parties have barricaded themselves behind their slogans and their stances and defended them fiercely.
