It is dumb
to vote for Donald Trump. I don’t mean that in the position of someone who is
on the other side of the issue. I mean it in the sense that voting for Trump is
the wrong choice. Some questions are rhetorical, some are opinion, some have
right and wrong answers; this election is a question that has a right and wrong
answer. If this were an election between two politicians, two parties
represented by a qualified candidate, this would be an opinion question. This
election would sprout two outcomes that would be different but beneficial to a
group. This election, however, is not that. This election is right and wrong
because no good will happen from having Donald Trump as president…and I think
his voters know that.
When I’m
driving around the area, one thing that is pretty clear, and I’m sure people
who are in the same area as me can corroborate, that there are more Trump signs
out than there are Hillary signs. By more, I mean, there are LOTS more. While
this is a very small sample size of demographics, just by looking at how many
more people attend Trump rallies than Hillary rallies, it’s obvious that his
supporters are more vocal about their pick. I don’t truly believe that they
think Donald Trump is the best choice. What I think they’re really broadcasting
by putting out these signs is “I’m tired of politicians, I’m tired of being
ignored, and I’m looking for a change.” Let’s be honest, the biggest thing that
people are looking for is a seismic shift. Whether they think they believe that
Trump’s changes are beneficial or not, what they’re really looking for is a
different approach to what they assume is going on. Just a simple google search
would show that most of Trump’s policies are bad. Hell, googling Trump would
bring up several reasons why him personally isn’t suited to be president. But
that’s not what people are voting for. They’re voting for the change. It doesn’t
matter that his changes aren’t good, it matters that it’s different from the “ineffective”
path of regular politicians. The Trump signs that stick out of our neighbor’s
lawn aren’t signs for a candidate they believe in—they’re signs of rebellion.
In that
respect, it makes sense. A lot of Trump supporters are uneducated lower to
middle class and, lets be honest, that’s a group that is massively
underrepresented and not listened to. If you look at all of media, most of it
is based in the big cities, such as New York or Chicago, that are liberal. As a
result, liberalism and “big city thinking” become the bigger presence. The
lower classes feel ignored, made worse by going through the struggle of having
to work harder for smaller rewards. It’s the “boss effect.” People hate the
boss because it feels like the workers are working hard, but the boss is
reaping all the perks. Trump, even as a billionaire, is “the little guy”
because he isn’t part of the political system and he’s going against the
beliefs of big institutions.
He’s
promising simple and quick results, which is something the lower classes find
attractive. Everyone has had those coworkers that say they could do a better
job than their boss. More times than not, they’re wrong. Look at Trump’s
speeches, he’s doing exactly that. “Only I can make America great again!” While
people want to complain about politicians, the truth is, they know how to
navigate the system and know what is realistic. There’s a reason that the
president is usually a career politician---because they worked their way up,
learned the craft, and are qualified, just the way it works for any business. Realistically,
change aren’t broad proclamations, they’re decisions that take time to plan out
and take time to work, and, yes, sometimes they don’t work out. The lower
classes don’t want to believe that because they’re struggling NOW. The problem is
every decision from the top cause ripple effects, both intended and unintended.
Trump is promising big results that are easy to understand and make perfect
sense if you’re thinking simplistically, but that’s not how things work. His
plans are the plans of someone’s right-wing uncle that works at a liquor store.
Here are some examples:
“The Wall:”
It’s almost
cartoony how this was one of his first main issues. It’s stereotypically
republican and his plans for it are outlandish. First off, proposing that
Mexico pay for it is ridiculous. You can’t insult a country and its people, not
only calling them criminals but inferring that they are so bad that you need a
physical blockade to protect yourself from them, then tell them to pay for it.
This is made even worse by him visiting Mexico, being cordial, coming back to
the U.S, and essentially bragging about how he bested them. That is both
terrible for international relations and idiotic. It’s this nationalistic way
of thinking, of devaluing other countries (this’ll come up again), that is
going to hurt the U.S the most. Also, it shows that he’s a liar.
Second, the
economy is helped by the use of immigrants. A lot of the lower tier jobs are
taken by immigrants at a detriment to themselves, as they usually face bad
working conditions for low wages. No matter how you want to look at it, the
bottom helps the top, meaning their exploitation helps us (which sounds bad).
They buy goods and services, obviously a good thing. Lastly, they PAY taxes
without gaining anything in return in terms of benefits. If every immigrant
were to leave the United States, it would cause a void in employment, which
would be filled by American workers that would demand higher wages, resulting in
an increase of prices for products. There’s that ripple.
A humanist
take on this, human beings are able to make a living. Correction, good people
are able to make a living. And once they have, they leave. That’s a fact that I
feel like isn’t talked a whole lot about. Emigration out of the U.S is higher
than people coming in. Due to numerous factors, Mexicans are either leaving or
opting not to come to the U.S.
Third, his
main reason for The Wall is RACIST. You can’t call an entire race of people
rapists, then try and save yourself by saying that some are good. What kind of
world do we live in where a presidential candidate, who potentially will have
to run a country that is filled with Hispanic people, can paint with such a
broad stroke?
His Beef with
China:
Economically
speaking, China is way better off than we are. They make more money than us by
millions. The way Trump talks about it, he makes it sound like we’re the
epicenter of global trade. China could very realistically ruin us financially.
We aren’t in position to negotiate for a positive balance. Even if Trump’s plan
is to shift the power, it’s never a good idea to knock our trading partners.
The U.S is not self-sustaining, same as every nation. Trade is good for
everyone. Each side receive something mutually necessary. That’s how trade
works. It’s that nationalism that I brought up before though. Nationalist want
to complain about how they’re being screwed by trade, but that’s just how trade
works. If decades of people who do this for a living can’t broker a better deal
with China, I can guarantee a hackney businessman like Trump can. One of the biggest
aspects of Trump is that he’s a successful businessman. He’s really not and the
only reason that people believe he is is because he’s not only marketed himself
as one but because he’s not broke. The reason he’s not broke is because it’s
hard to lose all your money once you reach a certain level of richness: wealth.
Rich is losable, wealthy isn’t. In reality, he loses billions of dollars and
has gone bankrupt 5 times. Reportedly, the reason he wanted to do the
Apprentice was because he needed to revive his dying image due to a lot of failures
(even his school for business failed!) We can point to Hillary’s mistakes and
condemn them as massive, inexcusable missteps, but the question is, who’s
playing with more house money? Trump may be a billionaire but he’s a
billionaire that came from a billionaire and works in the field of high stakes
real estate. To say Trump’s self-interested endeavors are comparable to Hillary’s
is laughable.
Continuing with
China though, Trump wants to bring business back to the U.S from China. Think
for a second who his voters are and how he seems to be tailoring his policies
for their wants instead of their needs, because that’s the biggest problem with
a candidate like Trump. It’s easy to see the present, but it’s harder to see
the future. He wants to take money away from schools, while at the same time
focusing on bringing back factory jobs. That kind of thinking will foster a
whole new generation of uneducated lower middle class earners. By putting more
emphasis on jobs like factory workers and miners, he’s giving his voters what
they think they want, but also undermining education, forcing them to stay in
that strata of income. Side note, it is probable that technology is taking away
more jobs than shipping them out to different countries. The problem of
unemployment is bloated. Obama has actually brought unemployment rates to a
low.
His financial plans:
If you look
at any basic fact checker, Trump’s economic policies will actually cause
trillions in debt, significantly more than Hillary’s, and will slow growth to a
record low. 317 economists don’t lie. Take a second to look up his plans and
you will be greeted with hundreds of articles that outline why his plans will
cause a recession. Even from this election process, the stock market has gone
down.
Like I have
said a few times in this blog, his supporters are lower-to-middle class. Based
on his tax plan, the top earning Americans will receive a higher cut than the
lower. Nothing about his plans are good for the lower classes. It’s like they’re
urging a snake to bite them.
Abortion:
Anyone else
hear his quote about late term abortions? I’m surprised he didn’t follow that
up by saying, “then they shoot the stork. They cook the stork. Tear out it's guts and giblets, serve it for a pagan holiday.” He also supports the defunding of
Planned Parenthood, the organization that provides a multitude of services,
such as, dispersing birth control, contraception, sex education, cancer
screenings, and, of course, abortions. He should just go ahead and say one of
his main platforms is demonizing women’s rights. This is the reason why “pussy
gate” was such an issue. It’s not only because he suggested that he’s sexually assaulted
women (several of which have cases with him right now), but because how can a
man who has this mindset towards women have the ability to facilitate positive
policies for them? A man (or woman) can say they believe in the rights of women
and respect them, but until they change their private notions, it’s all show.
In the way Freud said people have an unconscious mind, I say people have unconscious
thoughts that guide their behavior brought on by their upbringing and other
stimuli. A person must train themselves to think in a different way instead of
changing their external behavior just to sound good. Subconsciously, someone
who thinks in sexist ways (something I believe goes unnoticed) will make sexist
decisions unknowingly. Real change is in reprogramming one’s way of
thinking. Trump has shown little respect for women in his private life, making
it hard to believe that he’ll do right by women. You can’t have someone come on
a debate stage and talk about how big is penis is without admitting how much he
values masculinity.
Side Note:
Remember when the republican nominees were asked in the primaries to name a
woman in history to put on currency and Trump said his daughter. HAHAHAHA. The
rare feat of combining nepotism and ignoring the contributions of a whole
history’s worth of women.
Stop and Frisk:
There are a
lot of issues to bring up, so I decided to pick some of the most startling
points that I can’t believe haven’t been election killers and this is one that
left me shocked. Stop and Frisk was praised by Trump, who somehow doesn’t see
how his policing policies, his constant threats towards Hillary, and love of
atomic weapons are walking the line of dictatorship. This was a practice that
was deemed unconstitutional, yielded very little results, and was wildly racist
as most people that were stopped were people of color. This, coupled with Trump’s
view that inner cities are gang-infested wastelands, shows why he is doing so
well with lower class white men. They feel that a practice like stop and frisk
will keep THEM safe.
(This is personal belief, so you
can stop reading when I say wildly racist and move on to my next point incase
this offends) The uneducated lower classes have a problem with getting over
stereotypes. I grew up and still am in the working class and the most racist
thoughts I’ve heard have come from my family, friends, and acquaintances. The
reason I feel this is, is because I think the lower classes isolate themselves.
Life becomes this institution of practicality, security, and simplicity. I
remember going on my “on this day” feature on Facebook and seeing that when I
was in high school I was in favor of Arizona’s version of stop and frisk. Fast
forward 4 years later, I made an impassioned speech in my philosophy class
about the immoral implications of the practice. Education expands one’s mind
and lets them see the world in a different, more informed light. While the
college campus I was a part of wasn’t the greatest place for racial
enlightenment, what I saw was a place inhabited by people of all races become
scholars. I learned about great historical figures of color making great
strides in their field. I learned about different cultures. Education is
important for growing a sense of empathy and perception. Not only education,
but just going out to cities or talking to other ethnicities helps people
develop a scope.
Generally, and at the risk of
stereotyping, the lower class don’t put themselves out there. They stay in
their comfort zone and don’t see how much the world changes. I remember coming
home from elementary school, going to my grandparents’ bar that they spent all
their time at, and they’d be watching black and white TV shows and Spanish novellas.
Their life was work and old television, and their interactions were with “low
life” of the neighborhood that came into the bar. My dad is similar. Works all
day, comes home and watches old movies and TV shows. His exposure to people are
his coworkers at the factory, and they aren’t exactly evolved. My family held on
to old stereotypes and beliefs because they refused to expand on their world
(not to say they’re bad people as I believe that they were and are great
people). I really can’t imagine other families in similar situations acting any
different.
(Actually I’d like to expand my theory to include more than
just the lower class isolating themselves, citing a concept I learned in my
Philosophy of Race class that points to the segregation of the poor and rich
that keeps the poor with the poor and the rich with the rich.)
Without exposure to the wider
world, they become consumed by the generalizations. When I lived in my shitty
little studio apartment meant for low income tenants, I saw a lot of people who
acted their stereotype. I’ve been in low income neighborhoods and have gone to
poor schools and I see how institutional disadvantages affect minorities. This
is what these Caucasians see, and instead of noticing the similarities to each
other, only look to cast a blanket on the entire race. These whites work hard
at jobs for low wages and struggle as much as anyone, see minorities get
special treatment, like affirmative action, college scholarships, and black
lives matter, and say, “hey, I’m struggling too. All Lives Matter.” Stop and
frisk, Trump’s doomsday picture of inner cities, and Trump’s odd conviction
that every minority are “thugs” only looks to enforce their generalizations and
broaden their anger and fears.
Atomic Weapons
Trump was
said to be fascinated by nuclear weapons, eventually asking why do we have them
if we aren’t going to use them. How aren’t those the words of a mad man? We
have nuclear weapons as deterrence, as a way to halt others from using theirs.
If we were to shoot off a nuclear weapon, it would kill millions of people,
cause a rift in our national relations, cause environmental damage and possible
health issues for surrounding areas, and, of course, warrant an attack to us.
Keep in mind, the nuclear weapons we used were only a fraction of the power of
modern day versions. When a possible leader is fixated on one of the deadliest
weapons of all time, maybe we shouldn’t put him in charge of it.
I’ve tried to not be too insulting while writing this, but,
to be honest, voting for Trump is simpleminded and immature. It's a misplaced cry for help. "Telling it like it is" is only good if it's actually how it is, not a splurge of inaccuracies and prejudices. I understand that some things need to be changed and the
government isn’t being run in a way that benefits everyone equally. However,
this is not the time to make that stand. This is not the time to rebel against
the “all evil politicians.” This is not the time to bow out and not vote at
all. Take a stand on something in your life and care about your future, the
future of your loved ones. This is the time to be an adult and vote for the
person that probably won’t change anything too drastically, but also won’t send
us into a 1940’s depression, complete with racism and the mistreatment of women.
We are in a sad state of affairs when you can go on a candidate’s Twitter and
come out with hundreds of quotes that should disqualify him from the race. The
only thing that gives me peace of mind is that maybe in 2020 someone from
Survivor or Big Brother will run…
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