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@bob @clacke Wouldn't that be nice.
- Claes Wallin (韋嘉誠) repeated this.
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The country has voted. Motivated by fury and misinformation, they have fallen for a blatant scam, warned at every move. I hope that most of these voters have chosen #Trump as an act of revolt, not affirmation; I hope that these voters do not truly support all that this man has said and done.
More than half of the nation has chosen a xenophobic, sexist, racist, authoritarian, isolationist, superstitious bigot that encourages violence and foreign espionage while rejecting facts and producing lies to manipulate the people. He has proposed unconstitutional policies such as bans on the basis of religion, and caters to white nationalist ideals. He advocates torture, and the murdering of families of terrorists. He wants to pass libel laws to silence the press, and wants to censor the Internet, calling people who cite free speech as "foolish people".
I could go on, but I hope that all those that voted really think that appointing this man to the highest office in the world is worth the "change" they're hoping for. This broad, shotgun term---anything but the status quo. We'll get change. But anyone who thinks it's the change he's promising is foolish, naive, or struck by their own desperation.
It is sad that I have to describe our President elect as a "bad man" to my children, and tell them never to speak or act as he does. And the world is watching too.
So: let's see this grand vision for America. Let's see what it means to Make America Great Again.
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@clacke Perhaps I'm referring to a *long* road to failure.
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@ericxdu23 Right. That's fair. And a question that points fingers at all the world's non-authoritarian non-populist institutions since 1989.
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@clacke non-authoritarian non-populist sounds like the US (electoral colleges spoil the popular vote, and the balance of power is monstly non-authoritarian). Is that the kind of institution you're referring to? and what's the significance of the date 1989?
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@ericxdu23 I didn't have a favorite either. ;) Just a less deplorable.
I'm not scared, but I have strong concerns, and hope that congress will absorb most of the completely batshit proposals.
I recall a reporter weeks ago saying that half of the population will be distraught, some in the fetal position in tears. I thought that was dramatic. I had no tears, yet I found myself sitting on the couch hugging my legs at ~2 AM EST election night. And "grief" is an appropriate emotional description for the day that followed. Grief for the difficult realization that this man was actually legitimized and elected to office, and that there is no turning back. Grief for the defilement of the office. Grief for the families living in fear. Grief for the children watching him as our president. Grief for the unknown. Grief for being completely blindsighted---that a people actually _chose this "man"_; this constitutional antitheses. My coworker told me of a young girl that asked if her Muslim friend would be at school that day, or if she was already gone.
During the first 24 hours, my mind was incapable of comprehending it. I have never felt that way before. Though, I've never had anything to grieve over.
Now I can only hope for the best and fight for what I believe in. So many do not understand how deeply it affects many of us. This is so much more than choosing between two bad candidates; this is a true loss on a deep, fundamental level; more than I ever thought possible.
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I do not speak publicly of my emotions. Shit, my anxiety medication is an anti-depressant, and I still went through that.
But my point with all of this: this is a big fucking deal. Those who read about all these grievances; who watch video of crying crowds; who read something like my statement and think it's dramatic: you've missed the most fundamental part of this election. And you're probably not in the situation to discover it. Especially if you're outside the US and have little to nothing to lose---it's easy to look at the US and laugh or dismiss it as the usual cluster. This is different.
Now, I can only imagine how other groups feel. Muslims _citizens_ live in legitimate fear. Children of immigrants fear their parents being taken from them in a mass deportation event. There's many more, but I need to get some rest.
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@ericxdu23 1989 was the End of History. Communism and Fascism were dead, we were all liberal democrats now. Utopia achieved. We relaxed.
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@ericxdu23 Reasonable politics was in fashion. Everybody agreed on human rights and free trade, just bickering about details.
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@ericxdu23 Nobody took seriously until it was too late, the Putins, the Trumps, the Orbáns, the Le Pens, the Erdoğans, b/c we were "immune".
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@ericxdu23 @bob That's how it felt back then. That's why we're so upset to have been wrong. History moved on, turned out to be a pendulum.
Eric Duhamel
Mike Gerwitz
Claes Wallin (韋嘉誠)
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