It’s only the first day of Presidency for Donald Trump, and the changes have already begun in small and large scale manners, this time the changes being seen in the White House website.

What are these changes?

As per Friday, upon the inauguration ceremony of President Donald J. Trump, it was noticed that a large portion of White House policy informational pages on their official website, particularly pages concerning Climate Change and the policies regarding the issue, as well as the page regarding the LGBTQ community of the United States, were removed from the website. The changes were replaced by President Trump’s plans, including the America First Energy Plan and America First Foreign Policy.

The America First Energy Plan highlights Trump’s plans to expand the power of shale oil and gas regulating companies to further invest in mining approximately $50 trillion worth of non-renewable resources within federal American lands. This raises a major red flag for the United States in terms of pollution, as the effects of increased deforestation and mining could potentially be catastrophic.

The removal of the page regarding policies for the LGBTQ community raises even bigger of a red flag, as this may indicate not only a disregard but a level of foreshadowing towards the wholesale overhaul of gay marriage protection that Americans only recently have received legal protection to practice. This also provides hints towards possible regression towards anti-LGBTQ violence being further proliferated in the status quo, which is incredibly terrifying as a prospect for the future of America.

This was noticed as a part of a larger transition of change that has followed through on the White House, with the overhauling of a large portion of the website that had anything to do with the policies that were passed during the administration of President Obama. This marks the beginning of the promised changes that President Trump’s cabinet have wholeheartedly embraced as a way to completely revamp and alter the political atmosphere that was left in the aftermath of Barack Obama’s presidency.

In the wake of an incredibly divisive election, the changes are expected, but certainly not without opposition. With the latest wave of heavy opposition coming in to the form of exposure to Betsy DeVos’ knowledge of the educational system of the United States, as well as her reluctance to answer the questions asked by the Democrat senators in a transparent manner, spectacles as such displayed the heavy resistance to a large majority of the changes presented by the Trump administration. However, the power of executive orders still allows Donald Trump to actively press the agenda that he believes is ideal for the progression of the United States.

What does this mean? What can we do?

This type of political divisiveness leads to a highly problematic precedent that marks the political atmosphere of the United States for at least the next 4 years. The opposition to much of the policies proposed by the Trump administration, as well as the removal of a large majority of issues that people care about from the spectrum of high political consideration, creates an atmosphere where people are at an impasse.

However, those who preach the aspect of “there’s nothing you can do, Trump is president now” creates an atmosphere that is even more dangerous than the present volatile atmosphere that we have now. To lay down in the face of injustice only reinforces a structure that permits and encourages docility in the face of injustice. To tolerate and only be ambitious is a luxury experienced by those who have the privilege to do so. Such promotion of a perspective largely ignores the day to day sufferings of minority communities, such as people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, those who are disabled, the list goes on and on. Docility, to those who directly experience the harms of discrimination and oppression, is not an option. They have to fight to survive.

Politics at a deadlock means the progress of a country is greatly limited. This type of a limitation not only spells disaster for domestic policies but also creates a bad circumstance for political progress and innovation for the further development and progression of the country. Such an atmosphere also gives way for hostility, infighting and conflict that may expand on a grander scale.

In times like this, not only is solidarity important, so is resistance. Blindly hoping for a better outcome won’t make any magic happen and create a desirable result. We must take into account every intricate as well as large scale development that takes place around us, and understand the value of such developments and what they mean for the future of politics. Understanding such things can effectively allow us to resist developments in politics that we can consider dangerous or problematic, and continuously work towards bettering the country. Peaceful resistance in the form of marches and movements and the like serve as prime examples of public resistance. Such movements gain public attention and thus traction in the eyes of the media and politicians, who then are pressured to at least give some credence to the voices of the majority and cohere, endorsing policies that are desirable and beneficial to not only marginalized communities but the general populace.

Coming together requires resistance, and in a divisive stage of American history, recognizing and combatting the problems are more important than ever.