Donald Trump Needs to Do Better

Growing up, I was taught that a host was responsible for their guests. Leaders were to act as positive role models for those who looked up to them. Teams worked best when united.

So here we are, Trump has been back in office for a week. He’s off to a busy start, which is a nice change from the many of his predecessors who spend time celebrating their victory before starting work. But that’s about where my positive outlook ends.

From the start, and through his inactions, Trump has shown his continued support for hate and division. At his own inauguration, Elon Musk got up on stage, and immediately started giving the Sieg Heil to the crowd. Worse yet, the crowd was applauding and cheering him on.

Photo by Angela Weiss, borrowed from Zeit Online

As someone who had multiple grandparents fight against the Nazis in WWII, I find it absolutely disgusting that we’re at a point where such ideologies are embraced. Ignoring the fact that Musk never should have done this, Trump had a responsibility to shut this down. We just had an election, and effectively half of the country is still upset about the outcome; make an effort to bring the country together, not divide it further.

Where did we go wrong? Why are we here? Being honest, I really can’t figure it out.

At some point, a large population started to care about things that don’t involve them. If your neighbors are gay, how does this affect you? How do they interfere with your life? What’s the origin of your hate? If it’s a religious text that’s a few thousand years old, it’s unlikely that you read and understood the whole thing. Even if you found an argument that might thread the needle, and not be hypocritical in the context of your religious beliefs, you need to accept that society has evolved over the past several thousand years. Heck, back then you probably would have been stoned to death for your beliefs – what a relief that’s changed!

Today, religion does a far better job of dividing us, more so than anything else. If you want to argue about religion, you need to acknowledge that it’s a theoretical discussion, and one that will long exceed our lifetimes. Just think about how long there’s been fighting in the middle east, all in the name of religion! (This isn’t to say all churches are bad. Today many local churches are more forward thinking, and commonly assist with providing to those in need. Further in the past, they largely managed what today we call civil records.)

The problem with these neverending theoretical discussions is that they distract us from what actually matters. As a result, we have these completely pointless conversations that we know up front will be endless. And while all of that’s going, people get upset about the price of eggs. Complaints about the price of groceries is a far more tangible topic, and it rightfully matters to the average household.

This falls apart when we look at voter education. A large subset of US voters were unaware of how much of the food they buy gets imported from abroad. Coupled with Trump’s rhetoric of unilaterally imposing tariffs, it’s going to be interesting to watch Trump’s approval ratings over the next few years. (I’d also like to acknowledge the H5N1 bird flu which isn’t Trump’s fault, but I think we all need to thank Biden for his actions, rather than criticize what Biden did to help prevent H5N1 from spreading.)

Nobody knows everything. Don’t take pride in your ignorance. If you’re going to vote on an issue, you have an obligation to understand the topic. It’s healthy to have your opinion change and evolve as you learn more.

The one point where I’m personally worried about how the next few years will impact future generations, is how Trump’s policies will affect the environment. We have an obligation to future generations to hand down a liveable planet. Weather has been getting increasingly extreme. Polar ice caps have been melting. There’s more carbon in our air than ever before. It’s hard to dispute these facts. (And if you aren’t familiar with these topics, see the above. Educate yourself, and form new well informed opinions.)

This cartoon has been popping into my head a lot recently: “The Planet Got Destroyed” by Tom Toro, published November 25th 2012 in The New Yorker

I’m writing this from abroad, and can’t help but acknowledge that I’m in a very fortunate position. I have friends living in the US. Some are immigrants, some gay, some Jewish, some …not white. Some of them are worried, others are terrified. Whether these feelings are warranted or not, people shouldn’t have to be worried like this, and I can’t help but feel bad for them.

I didn’t vote for this. Despite the fact that, on paper, I stand to benefit from much of what Trump pledged to do, I voted against Donald Trump six times – 3 primaries and 3 general elections. Not because it would negatively affect me, but because I want a society that embraces diversity, and one where all of us can thrive for generations into the future.