We live in a difficult time period. As women in college, we are probably for the first time getting really active and involved in politics. Many things are important to us, but we don’t all line up in values, and that’s okay. However, it helps to know the facts.
The Economy
The economy is a very large concern when it comes to the way people vote. The economy controls job growth, which is extremely important to college students, as we are all in fantastic debt. Under the Trump administration, the GDP has been growing at an over 3% rate, and the stock market has jumped nearly 27%. These are great numbers, and as a result, unemployment is at a 50-year-low. There have been major tax cuts with a huge surge in corporate profit due to the optimism of the consumer in the market.
Women’s Health
A women’s right to make a decision about pregnancy is always up for discussion. But with a conservative, the fear that there will be a change in policy grows far greater. Trump is a “pro-life” president. One of Trump’s greatest flaws is his complete disregard for women’s health. He states that he would “overturn Roe v. Wade and return the decision to the states” and in order to do so he will “appoint justices that are also pro-life”. Trump is also in support of de-funding Planned Parenthood, saying that “even though it helps millions upon millions of women with birth control and screening for cervical and breast cancer, it should be de-funded for the abortion factor, even if its only 3% of what they do, it should still be de-funded”. WHAT!? Planned Parenthood does so much for women’s health and he is completely disregarding the benefits. Trumps past history of disrespect regarding women is showing in his policies
Immigration
This is the topic that coined the slogan for our current president’s campaign…”BUILD A WALL”. Ever since, intense ignorance and racism has sparked in this country. Hate crimes have actually spiked for the first time after years of a decline. Though Trump did not necessarily tell his supporters to commit these crimes, his actions and comments lean towards “the keeping out” of other ethnicities. He did so with the initial ‘Muslim Ban’ and ‘build a wall’ chants. To make matters worse, as I am writing this, I found out that Trump is now trying to end birthright citizenship through an executive order. This means that children who are born in the United States to parents that aren’t citizens won’t be citizen either. The 14th Amendment clearly states that those who are born in the United States will be its citizens. This makes up for nearly 49% of immigrants. So, children who have known no other country than this, and obviously had no choice but to be here, are now going to be alienated from their own homes. So much for “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. As for immigrants in the workforce, Immigrants only make up for about 17% of the civilian labor force. And of this 17%, only 30% are working in a management capacity job.
Education
Education is extremely important and builds on the economy itself. Better educated individuals equals more skilled workers. Trump passed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education For The 21st Century Act, which builds on recent reforms made in k-12 education. The goal of this act is to align education better with the current workforce by getting the community more involved while also limiting a federal role and give the teacher more power. This encourages stronger engagement with possible employers. It also starts more career development from a younger age in hopes to focus students for their later education. The Act gives more power back to the states in order for the programs to be more specialized for the population’s needs. Career development is key, it gets students excited to participate when they are passionate about what they are learning. This could be a really good thing for education.
Author’s notes:
For this article, I picked the four topics that I feel have been discussed the most. I stuck to the facts trying not to interject my personal opinion (too much), because it is rare to find an article without a bias. The sources were provided for the reader’s discretion. Please check the facts, educate yourself! I personally checked the bias on every source and did my best to stay in the middle. When reading about politics, or anything really, don’t seek out information that proves your own opinion right, but instead search out information that is true. That is the only way to learn and to grow.
(all photos are courtesy of pinterest)