For a long time now, Donald Trump has been the talk of the internet, from support to criticisms and so on. He has had such a profound impact on North America that even in Canada we find ourselves locked in political debates about the upcoming United States presidential election. I have avoided writing on the subject because to a certain extent, it was not our place as Canadians to say who the Americans should elect. But as it progresses, it increasingly becomes a concern of ours, so much so that political differences can threaten our personal relationships.
I'll be honest, Trump scares me, and not necessarily because of his policies. He scares me because he seems to embody so well issues in our society that many of us have been fighting, sexism, racism, and so on. He speaks terribly of women and of minorities and people of color, and the fact that he's one of the presidential candidates signifies something even scarier: that people are willing to openly support this behaviour and way of thought. He talks about stopping ISIL and making America great again, but his methods seem to be counter-productive.
Regardless of his political policies, Trump has a severe cultural impact on North America, and possibly the world. The National board of Education has described something they call the Trump effect that is being found across the country (link to an article here and also here). It's a sad thing to read, as even the children are finding themselves filled with fear and anxiety, those of color worrying about their safety and whether they'll be deported.
His rhetoric of hate has a similar effect on adults, even here in Canada. I cannot count the times a Muslim friend of mine has had to post in defense of his faith in the wake of ISIL attacks, while Trump (who had just proposed a ban on Muslims entering the country) simply said something that equated to "I told you so." White supremacist groups have voiced their support for Trump, saying that he will be an opportunity for them (article on it here). It might be worthy to note that the specific group named in that article is the American Nazi party.
On top of that, Trump has gotten a lot of attention for his talk about building a border wall between the United States and Mexico (which, as suggested by this video, might do little to combat the problem of illegal immigration). But the specifics of the wall building are irrelevant. His rhetoric surrounding it often involves blaming Mexicans (and other groups of people of color, or of another faith such as Muslims) for problems that the United States is facing (article with quote and video from Trump here).
But the truth is that many of those issues, from unemployment to drug abuse to economic crises, are made by Americans (and in Canada, made by Canadians). If we look at the 2008 economic crisis, we will see almost exclusively white men causing it. If we look at the structure of our society and the history of North America, we see that the people making the decisions as to how the countries will be formed and run have been almost exclusively white men. Blaming illegal aliens for issues like these is like blaming the unbelievably high poverty rate in the United States on the poor when there's a finite amount of money and most of it in the United States is concentrated in a slim amount of people (again, mostly white men), including Donald Trump himself.
But even if we let that slide, what are we left with if we believe it? We start blaming others who are not like us for the issues in the society and, in turn, begin exhibiting xenophobia, and included in this is racism, sexism, and Islamophobia. North American society can no longer survive with these in place. Too many people know better now, and so, a rift would form, especially with the amount of people made out to be the enemy that are Americans.
The reason I am writing this though is because this presidential campaign has spread and revived a great deal of hate and inspired a great deal of fear and anxiety. This includes even those who are against Trump, as frustrations at him and his followers sometimes turn into hate and outright aggression. But hate and fear are not the qualities our society needs. When we give into hate and fear, we destroy both ourselves and those we intend on destroying. It becomes easy for us to lose sight of what is truly important, what is truly worth fighting for, and instead lash out at others.
And those of us who are not consumed by our fear and hate are left in a difficult position. It is times like these when it is so easy to lose faith and hope in humanity's goodness, in our own salvation. When we lose faith and hope, we give up on trying and accept the world as it appears to be, instead of daring to see it for what it could be and fighting to make that a reality.
I have said this many times, albeit mostly to myself as a reminder, but we must strive to hold onto hope, to maintain faith, to be loving, and most of all, to have the courage it takes to act, to make a stand against injustice, and fight our own fears. We must have the love and the courage to be willing to sacrifice everything for the good of others. We can never be perfect, and we will fail from time to time, but we have to try...
Until next time,
-Zero
No comments:
Post a Comment