Image by Amandalynn Jones (License CC BY-SA 4.0)
There’s a familiar refrain that’s been going around both sides of the political aisle for a number of years. No matter your background, financial status, race, gender, or politics…no one feels like they’re being heard.
Trump supporters argue – correctly, as it turns out – that the main reason he won the election wasn’t because liberals were unable to energize apathetic members or eligible voters, but due to how angry and disenfranchised they felt. These people were identified as the Silent Majority, implying most Americans must be suffering in the same way, but had been unable to make their voices heard until now.
Now that Trump is in power, liberals and sane people seem to be the Silent Majority. We see injustice and illegal actions, and scream at the top of our lungs about conflicts of interest, abuse of power, and white supremacists undermining our democracy.
“Let’s get something out in the open: if you support Trump, you’re on the wrong side of history. You’re on the wrong side of the present.”
Those cries are going largely unheard though, unless you’re already open to accepting facts. Many of those that side with Trump are blind, believe in “alternative facts”or are simply incapable of hearing any criticism of their guy. They write off what does make it through their news-feed as “fake news,” or a liberal conspiracy to undermine our democracy.
“I’m not afraid of Donald Trump. I’m afraid of the people who support Donald Trump… the people who enable him because they know what he’s doing, they know when he’s doing something wrong. Here’s my view: A drunk is a drunk, but the person who encourages him to drive, that’s an asshole, and Trump has a lot of assholes around him.”
– Trevor Noah, The Daily Show
Let’s get something out in the open: if you support Trump, you’re on the wrong side of history. You’re on the wrong side of the present. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe he will do all the criminal things he claims he wants to do. If you’re a white supremacist who supports his hateful and divisive rhetoric, or a Hillary Clinton hater who can’t bear to hand over the presidency to someone with an email scandal, you’re the problem.
I do not make a claim like this lightly. 62 million Americans voted for Trump. 62 million Americans have proven they have no moral compass, or chose to ignore it out of spite. More to the point, they continue to ignore it on a daily basis, arguing the banning of an entire religious group from the U.S. helps protect everyone. They are unwilling to accept that Trump has more conflicts of interests with foreign powers than any president in history.
I would argue America’s time is due. Not that this is the end of our way of life, but for the bulk of our history, we’ve been largely protected from problems facing other democracies. Our geographic isolation and wealth help make that possible. We haven’t had a Mussolini, a Mugabe, or an Idi Amin seize power and rule our nation under autocratic leadership.
We’re reaping what we sow. We’re allowing executive orders under Presidents Bush and Obama to provide legitimacy to the idea that the President of the United States should be more of a king than a democratically elected leader of the people.
However, it says something about us that Trump’s election got everyone’s attention. The attack on civil liberties is just the opening volley. It’s been less than one month since the inauguration, and we’ve already seen the checks and balances that hold a president accountable, under attack. Nepotism is practiced in full view of the public without serious consequences.
Due to these attacks, Americans who had largely been silent, because the status quo wasn’t that bad for them, have been spurred into action. Personally, I was not a fan of President Bush, but I could never have imagined a day when I would want to storm the White House and forcibly remove him. That’s not the case for Trump.
I’m a straight white guy with a job, and I’m still scared. I’m scared when I hear about incidents of white supremacists feeling empowered to attack African Americans, because Trump’s chief strategist supports their actions. I’m scared when I hear people online referring to transgender people as “things” or needing to be cured by religion.
I’m scared, because if no voices are heard, then no middle ground is achievable. In an encouraging sign, those against Trump have made themselves known by protesting the Muslim ban; hopefully showing the rest of the world that the American people aren’t against them.
This kind of action is the largest and most public display of support for Muslims by US citizens this country has ever seen. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. However, this has not opened communication between Trump supporters and the rest of the country. If anything, it widens the gap, and makes it more difficult to reach them in the future. Families are being torn apart. Dating app profiles have become inundated with “if you like Trump, swipe left.”
In the absence of visible hope, we the people of the United States should just keep trying. I don’t expect us to to live in a land of unicorns and rainbows, but I believe we can find common ground before we miss the chance to rectify our mistakes. It might take a truly horrific action from Trump to make that happen, but as long as both sides keep trying, there is reason for hope.
Turner Wright is a freelance writer with an engineering background. He is originally from Texas, but usually finds himself in the Bay Area if not some random corner of Asia. He is currently the Digital Media Manager for Airbnbhell.com and TravelVisaPro.com. He enjoys running long distances, eating more than necessary to do said running, and traveling to other countries.
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