Recently a rather hilarious story has been circulating the Internet, telling the tale of a magical statue mysteriously erected in multiple places across our fine country. Sporting incredible detail, masterful workmanship and a certain quality that can only be described as “frighteningly realistic”, these statues depict none other than our Lord and Savior...wait, no that’s not right (just because he thinks so doesn’t mean it’s true!), but rather the man himself, Donald Trump. Or as John Oliver cleverly point out, Donald Drumpf.
With a name like Drumpf, the man has to be a joke right? See, that’s what Americans were hoping last November. Oh glorious November 2015, a time when naive voters such as myself scoffed at the idea of Trump clawing his way through a minefield of 16 other competitors just to score the nomination. Now, here we sit, the naive majority, mouths agape at the flesh tone statues decorating our sidewalks, symbolizing the 50/50 chance of seeing that same hair on our TV screens for the next four years.
While the statues are of course ugly, I mean how could they not be??, the main lesson I detect from their placement and timing is that this is a representation of what our government has devolved into: a petty, childish obscene sight causing us to gawk and shake our heads.Other countries around the world literally laugh at American news stories, shocked and amazed at what a mess our country has made of our own systems. I would laugh too, if I weren’t a college freshman preparing to cast my vote for the person who will be in power the entire time I’m at Berkeley. If a Trump presidency doesn’t scare you, consider the hundreds of thousands of college students around the nation whose livelihoods, educations, and futures all depend on the decisions and policies of the new president. If they make the wrong choice, they aren’t only endangering my future and the futures of my peers, but the entire future of America.
Sounds bleak and melodramatic, I know. But as November 2016 inches closer, I can’t help but look around and wonder. Even some silly statues probably aren’t enough to entice many apathetic people to vote. Political efficacy is currently in a scary dip in America, a dip deep enough to negatively affect us for years to come.
A possible Trump presidency scares me, yes. But what scares me even more is when people purposely choose not to vote because they’re too lazy or convinced the outcome doesn’t matter. The reality is, with such low voter turnout, the winner of the election can’t really be known as the most popular candidate. We have no way of knowing the true representation of the American people’s feelings if every single eligible citizen doesn’t cast their vote. So even though this might just seem like a rant from an already-on-edge 18 year old, I assure you we can all do our part to make American politics a little less of a joke. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a good Trump tiny hand joke as much as anyone, but it pains me to see American people harbor the idea so strongly that America itself has become a joke.
