NOVEMBER 12 ― As the world slowly begins to shake off the post-election shell shock, I too have been mulling over the brave new world into which America has thrust us.
I was personally devastated by the news of the Trump presidency and, following my initial rage and fear, I have taken the last few days to attempt to process what it is about this turn of events that provoked such a strong reaction in me.
So much has been written on this subject in the time since the result that it’s unlikely I can add much to the argument. But I have a need to make sense of what has happened, so bear with me as this article is probably closer to therapy than it is journalism.
It’s fair to say that this election probably won’t affect my life greatly; I do not, nor do I ever plan to, live in the US. And while Trump’s policies will undoubtedly have an impact in the Asia Pacific region, it’s unlikely to interfere in my day to day activities. But it was not just for me that I mourned for on Wednesday, the tentacles of fear and sadness that spring from this result bury themselves in to many facets of society and conscience.
Initially, what was most troubling to me was the galling realisation that a woman who has dedicated her life to public service, who is the most qualified candidate in recent history, and who has conscientiously prepared every step of the way can lose out to a bigoted, unprepared old white guy with an attitude.
I’m sure there will be plenty of people ready to claim that it had nothing to do with her being a woman, that people had legitimate reasons to dislike Clinton. Perhaps they’re right to a certain degree, and had Hillary lost to a worthy candidate then this argument may hold more sway. But to lose to Donald Trump, a man who has had scandal after scandal and is the most unqualified candidate to ever run for office, points to an underlying bias that we still have not managed to shed.
I don’t believe that people went in to the polling booth on Tuesday with the explicit idea to vote against Hillary purely for the fact that she’s a woman, but I do feel there is a subconscious prejudice that still pervades the common psyche, even in the most developed and forward thinking of nations in this world. This realisation, especially for a woman who was excited and proud to welcome the first female leader of the free world, came as crushing blow.
Secondly, my concern is not just for what will follow a Trump victory, but what has already been.
The campaign that Trump ran was one of hate. It was not disguised hate, it was not watered down with guarded language, it was not weaved into “facts” designed to deceive the public as we saw happen with Brexit. It was explicit, unadulterated hate speech. It was on a level that would make you baulk should you hear it come from the mouth of a despot and it was indiscriminate with its targets, covering minorities of all description.
While this was borderline entertaining to watch over the length of the campaign cycle, I never truly believed that anyone would take action to vote based on it. That underlying belief that people are good and want only what’s best for their neighbour is a conviction that I clung to throughout and I feel that I may now have been proven the fool.
Never in recent memory has anyone been elected with such explicit racist, misogynistic, bigoted views. These were not an unfortunate sideliner to his campaign, they were central to it. A vote for Trump was a vote for these views and that is what is scary.
Regardless of how he now chooses to address these standpoints going into the future, the damage has already been done. Hate crime against Muslims is now at its highest point since 9/11, Trans Lifeline, a national hotline for transgender people in crisis, has seen its call volume triple, African Americans face racist slurs in the street, and the Hitler salute is no longer an action of the ostracised underground.
Not all Trump supporters engage in this behaviour but it seems to have given those that do the confidence to express their prejudices far more freely.
Thirdly, my sadness derives from an issue that will prevail long after the Trump presidency is over, for it is his stance on climate change has the potential to leave a lasting legacy of indescribable damage.
Trump has said that in his first days in office he wishes to “cancel” the Paris Climate Agreement and cut all “global warming payments” to the UN.
While he cannot force other nations not to fulfil their commitments to the Paris deal, it is questionable as to whether developing nations will see the urgency if the world’s second largest (and one of the richest) greenhouse gas polluter is not willing to pull their weight.
Nations such as India, the world’s third largest polluter, have made clear that their steps to cut emissions depend on the funding promised by Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State. Without this US$100 billion (RM441 billion) fund, aimed at helping developing nations transition to clean energy, targets are incredibly unlikely to be met and we may have no way of avoiding the most devastating consequences of climate change.
Further to this, he has laid plans to dismantle the Environment Protection Agency and eliminate Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a policy that Trump views as a “war on coal.”
The future of our planet does indeed look dismal.
My overwhelming fear for the hard won rights that are now in jeopardy is the final reason for my current dejection.
Trump has stated during his campaign that he intends to fill the Supreme Court with pro-life judges and has laughably expressed his stance as being “for traditional marriage”, which is supposedly between a man and a woman.
Both a woman’s right to choose and the LGBT community’s right to love have been long, arduous, hard fought victories. In the current environment, in which the nation enjoys a sympathetic and liberal president in the form of Obama, there are still daily battles required to ensure these rights are upheld. With the instatement of Trump in the White House and conservative judges in the Supreme Court, the circumstances do not bode well for them.
These are not unreasonable or extreme requests of your nation, these are human rights, and they should not be up for discussion. Without them I will fear for my friends in the US, I fear for the gay couple worried for the right to marry and I fear for the young woman who may now face prosecution for wanting to control her own healthcare.
This list of concerns is by no means absolute, I could go on all day but I suspect that not many people would have made it this far down my rant as it is.
The Trump victory has brought with it uncertainty and fear for many elements of the American populace. But, while there are many things to be anxious about, there are also many things to be hopeful for. This election has exposed some of our darkest and deep seated prejudices as a society, but it has hopefully also given us the impetus to finally act on fighting them.
Good luck America, we’re all rooting for you!
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
