So Trump won the election. Whatever your opinions on it, it happened. President Obama has met with President-elect Trump, who is now making his transition into the White House. Now, no matter what way you look at this, the election of Trump has affected, and will continue to affect, the world in a significant way. There are many things that have happened, so I’m going to break down a few, and what they could mean for the future. Because I’m not a psychic, the following is by no means what will definitely happen in the future, only what I think could happen. Anyway, here are some things that happened, as reported by The Independent, with consequences I’ll try to break down.
Shares in renewable energy companies declined significantly
Donald Trump’s campaign on his road to the presidency claimed that climate change was a plot created by the Chinese to cripple American industry, so it is safe to assume that he is a climate change denialist. If he is a climate change denialist, then it is safe to assume that he doesn’t think the use of fossil fuels are detrimental to human life, and if anything, improve it. So, why would he want something like a renewable energy source to stop the profits the US can make on fossil fuels and oil? This is why the stocks have gone down. However, the problem with this is that it may lead to something that Trump supporters hated Hillary for: the way she acted in the Middle East. Much of the oil that is used in the US comes from the Middle East, so increasing the amount of fossil fuels used increases the amount of US involvement in the Middle East, and US motivated actions in the region. This could lead to wars, and we could have something that looks like the US driven wars in the Middle East that we saw just a few decades ago. Now, this is quite a simplification of the history of the US and the Middle East, but it is a possibility for the future.
Shares in BAE industries, a massive international producer of arms, skyrocketed
Do I need to explain this? If the shares of a company go up, the company gets more money and so is able to produce more. So there will be more guns introduced into the market, which means there is a greater risk of gun related incidents domestically as well as internationally. Not only this, but BAE industries is connected to the NRA (the National Rifle Association) which is a powerful lobbyist for pro-gun rights in the US. If BAE industries has more money to produce more guns, they could theoretically get the NRA to lobby for less strict gun laws so more people can buy guns. Because of this, people who normally shouldn’t have guns can get them, which can lead to some very obviously bad things.
Canada’s immigration site crashing
This is funny on a surface level, but if you think about it, it is a symptom of a bigger problem. The fact that so many Americans are looking to Canada as a solution creates an uneven power balance if they do start to move here. Trump says that he wants to re-evaluate the terms of NAFTA – which is the trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico – which would drastically change the way Canada’s economy works. This could make Canada’s economy falter, and what Americans who moved here say? They would not be pleased and this could impact negatively on Canada as a country. I’m not calling for a ban on American who want to live here, but beware of the circumstances. These Americans aren’t exactly like the refugees Canada has taken in before.
The world is ever changing, and often times we are so caught up in our own bubbles we fail to see the ripples of our actions. This is also true for actions in the media. Although I have provided some ideas, I encourage you to think on these actions yourself and prepare yourself for the conclusions you come to. Good luck to you all in the coming days, I fear that they will be tumultuous.
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