Wowwie. We have officially survived the first week of Donald Trump’s presidency. It has been quite the week, it felt like one oppressive policy after the other, and we discovered that he is following through on some of his most radical ideas. But there is no reason to lose hope for the rights of many of Americans.
I am going to preface this by saying that maybe a lot of this theory is based on the fact that I hold onto hope until the last possible moment, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a good chance of being true. My theory is that Trump’s presidency will, in a sense, create a martyr out of human rights and sensibility. Because it truly feels like Donald Trump is coming directly for so many people’s rights. Examples include his proposed Muslim ban, the First Amendment Defense Act, and his ideas on Obamacare (we don’t really have an idea on what his plan is to “improve” it, but chances are it could take away healthcare from so many people who just obtained it).
So, how does this connect to martyrdom? Well, a person is made a martyr by dying in relation to a cause they deeply believe in. Examples are people like Martin Luther King Jr. who was assassinated for his leadership in the civil rights campaign. Many times having a martyr propels a movement forward, bringing people who were too scared to speak up onto the battle lines. While no one has died as a result of Donald Trump’s presidency, the threat of losing rights has had the same effect as a martyr. This past election wasn’t truly a test of who should lead the country, many people saw it more as a picking the lesser of two evils. And even though one of those evils was clearly the worse, he ended up winning because he appealed to many people’s fears, demonizing groups of people so that he could say “if you vote for me, I’ll get rid of these monsters”.
However, now that he’s been in office for a week, people who were appealed to by his promises to get rid of certain monsters are realizing that it may mean losing other things, such as healthcare and tax dollars, because we have to fund that wall somehow. And the people who were against him, but less vocal have gained a voice and are now speaking up. For example, the women’s march which happened on the day after his inauguration brought forth both the diehard protesters as well as people who have never spoken up on these issues.
I think that, because his ideals are so skewed and will hurt a majority of Americans, Donald Trump’s presidency has the potential to unite America and turn it into what it was meant to be from the start, a country of the people, by the people, and for the people. It may take 4 years, but we can get through it.
