How in the hell did we get here?
I don’t believe anyone can answer that question right now.
From all of the talk political pundits and liberal news media spread over the course of this election, the result seemed to be a no-brainer, right?
Hilary Rodham Clinton was going to win in a landslide victory that would leave Donald Trump completely shell-shocked.
Well, almost a full week after the election results America, along with the rest of the world, is still reeling in disbelief. Young people all over this country are converging into the streets, highways and even Trump towers all with the same disdain for this utterly shocking result.
A resounding cry from millennials in America has proved that young people simply do not want a Donald Trump presidency.
And why should they?
Due to all of the hateful rhetoric and insults towards every minority group in this country, it would seem unlikely that this guy would have any fans at all.
Rural America, along with the majority of White America, proved us all wrong, however. The overwhelming support for the Republican nominee stunned nearly everyone between the ages of 18 and 30, yet is it really that surprising at all?
America has long had problems with displacing people of color and racial tension, but this seems quite different, though, as it seems America is now having an identity crisis.
The idea of any immigrant arriving in America and making a name for him or herself has long been a staple of the supposed American Dream. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it’s dead.
The promise to build a "Great Wall of Trump" and deporting upwards of three million illegal immigrants, along with the Islamaphobia that has spread like wildfire across this country, has caused potential immigrants to ask why would you want to come here?
America is the sole superpower in the world; however, the rise of a fear mongering President-elect makes all of the theme parks, great universities and other classic pieces of Americana like baseball and Mexican food less appealing. Sure, we’ll all live and after four years maybe things will be better...or a lot worse.
The fact of the matter is that with each election change is customary, even welcomed, but I’m not so sure that living in a nation with hate crimes spiking exponentially, and white nationalism seeping out from Old Faithful make the prospect of the millennial generation living so peachy keen and comfortable like our grandparents and theirs before them.
I happen to be a straight, white, male so the idea of a Trump presidency might have seemed awesome to me right?
Well, no, actually, I’ve studied history just like everyone else reading this, and I think we can all agree on one thing--Donald Trump is not the first of his kind and certainly won’t be the last. His complete lack of any political correctness and spewing of racist, sexist and xenophobic comments are certainly not the first to be made, and frankly I believe it’s going to get worse before any progress is made.
If "making America great again" involves making everyone hate again well take me back to the good old days when this never happened. That’s right folks, in the eyes of supporters of Donald Trump, their America resembles the 1950s--an era where milkshakes and soda-pop were a nickel and blacks and whites had separate water fountains, bathrooms and restaurants.
And, being gay was illegal and thought to be a possible mental disorder. This is not the America we need to recede back to, it's 2016, the future is now. I’m aware of my white privilege and will do everything in my power to make sure the voices of all my millennial brothers and sisters no matter the race, gender, religion or sexual orientation will always be supported and never silenced.
There is no telling what we can achieve if we all put aside our differences and come together to support each other. All of the protesting aside, and the occasional riot which occurred in Portland,Oregon--the thought of a bunch of bearded, skinny hipsters rioting through the streets may not seem so scary, because it really isn't, but serious problems may arise if Donald Trump does anything drastic in his presidency.
I personally want to give Donald Trump a chance, not a very big chance, but I would not be a fan of seeing our country fail.
So good luck Donald, I’ll always keep writing about how much I dislike you unless you try to silence all of the media in this country altogether. In that case, I would be outside one of your many beautifully, tacky towers protesting, because if one thing truly makes America great it is that each person in this country can voice their opinion in any manner they choose and more often than not actually make a change.
January 20th is just a short way down the road, and I don’t expect this country to have everything solved by then. I do, however, want every American, especially Trump supporters, to put down the Big Gulp, take off the atrociously stupid red hat and ask yourselves what all of us in the streets are asking: What kind of America do we want to live in?
For the sake of every American I hope we all have the same answer and try our best to not sleepwalk through this four-year nightmare.
