Who am I going to vote for? Donald Trump.
Just kidding! He’s a racist, sexist, arrogant human being who wants his audience to know that he doesn’t have small genitalia. At least, that’s what I’ve seen from endlessly trolling my social media apps into the wee hours of the night. When a question of politics comes into conversation, I always end up hypothetically soiling myself while scrambling to create some sort of input to make myself seem smart or aware. I often click to “like” funny photos, statements, or even memes depicting one politician or their party poking fun at another. Through reflection, I wondered if I even genuinely “liked” anything that I laid my generous thumbs upon. And through even further reflection, I became frustrated with myself about the fact that I had given my social media approval of things that I didn’t even fully understand.
To be unfortunately frank, I couldn’t help you identify Marco Rubio from Ted Cruz, let alone their political standpoints. I recognize Hilary, generally because she is a woman, and she has been in the political universe for a very long time. I’m only aware of Bernie Sanders because he is an elderly, Caucasian male who represents the Democratic Party. However, of all candidates, Trump is the first name that comes to mind when I hear the words “election,” “caucus,” “debate,” “Canada,” and so on. However, this is only because of how so widely his actions and words are broadcast, and they are, because of the bold and outrageous things he says, as well as his celebrity status.
Once someone becomes passionate on the topic of presidential candidates, I tend to tune out and get very irritable. It was then that the saying “You fear what you do not know” applied to my life very well. As a college student, when I ask my friends about the political race, I notice a resemblance in their responses to mine. “I’m not voting for Trump!” is the most frequently repeated answer. As the conversations go on, I realize that a majority of my comrades and generation don’t seem to know what’s going on either, besides what's read on social media.
Through this struggle, I’ve found a need in myself to be more cautious of what I “like,” and also to inform myself more about the political candidates and the presidential race itself. If I am a voter of this country who votes upon sensationalized social media, or a lost voter, I almost feel valueless as a person and/or citizen. If you truly believe and support something, I feel that your vote should always be exercised. However, because of the constant confusion and misconceptions swayed by social media, I will urge myself to be more educated before I decide to participate in any sort of political action. And, I’ll be tuning into debates rather than liking photos of Donald Trump’s eyes being Photoshopped to replace his lips, or retweeting Monica Lewinsky memes.
