Donald J. Trump will be the 45th president of the United States of America.
The reactions toward this result have been extreme. On one end, there are people who are excited, and who believe he is the saving grace for America. At the same time there are many people horrified, scared and uncertain of what the future holds for them. As I’m writing this, it’s been a week since the election and a lot has happened. Most notably, there are many protests happening across the country in massive numbers. Thousands took to the streets of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and beyond. The rallies have remained peaceful for the most part and what I have found most honorable about these protests is the intent of the people. They are not so much protesting against Trump, but more so defending their beliefs and executing their right to make sure they are heard. Many signs say “Dump Trump,” but there are even more signs that scream messages of equality for people’s race, gender or sexuality.
Before I continue on, I need to make a disclaimer. I did not vote for Trump or Hillary, and I come from a state that no doubt would have given all their electoral votes to Hillary Clinton. I am not a political person – there are many things about politics and the government that I do not understand and this election is the first one I have paid so much attention to. That being said, I have the passion to write this article because as an Asian, female citizen of this country, I empathize with those who are currently feeling scared, confused and trapped. So, let me try to console you and hopefully restore your faith in America because although many people joke about moving to Canada, this is not the time to abandon your country. In fact, this is the time to stay and show the amount of power the American public actually have in this nation. Which leads me to my first point…
You vote in this system, every day
America’s wealth is very poorly distributed, with many people protesting against the top one percent and who hold a perpetual fear of handing too much power to them. It’s true that large corporations and businesses have a lot of influence on this country do to their ability to control people with money and build large empires, but don’t forget that most of those businesses profit from you. I remember a time when people didn’t obsess over buying all organic, natural, gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO, grass-fed, free range, no hormones, cage-free products. But then people started becoming more cautious and aware of what they were putting into their bodies and bought the higher quality foods. Now, the majority of the products in grocery stores at least have a big, green, “ORGANIC” label printed on them.
So if you are supporting a candidate who’s against free trade agreements and for bringing back American manufacturing jobs, do you only buy American- made products? If you want to see more environmental measures be taken in this country, are you taking public transportation when a car is available? When you hear about corporations that have shown acts of racism, sexism or are against gay rights, do you avoid purchasing from their brands? Statistically, the answer is most likely no to all of these. Our buying habits have nothing to do with the ethical position that we say define us. We don’t vote with our dollar. We buy things that we want and that we can afford. We spend hours reading reviews about products but won’t spend a minute to find out who we are making rich in the process of buying it. All the huge corporations are huge because of us and all the failing corporations are failing because of us. You have more power than you think. Many people seem to only exercise that power on Election Day, but remember that your power lies in day- to -day decisions, sacrifices that honestly, none of us seem to be willing to make.
The president does not have as much power as you may think
After the election, a lot of people blamed the results on our system – the electoral voting system or just our government as a whole. Even though the system does have many problems, the system is not the problem. I personally believe that the problem is the amount of faith and hope that we place on one individual to change our lives. The president was never meant to be very powerful. The founding fathers of this country set up this government in a way so that we wouldn’t give one person all or more of the power. The president’s main concerns are foreign relations and to execute laws that the Congress has enacted. He or she cannot legislate and cannot solely make laws. The majority of what Trump says he will do, he can’t actually do. Yes, as the president, he is in the position to formally propose laws, but they have to go through a lot of people before they can do anything.Congress and the Supreme Court will keep him in check. Do not feel that the country has rejected you and all your values just because they rejected your candidate.
After all of this, all I am saying is: the problem is not Trump. The problem is our belief that we can correctly choose one person to solve our many problems. As I said in above, you have power and thus we have power. This country is an incredible place to live because of this fact.
I’m going to end with a quote from one of my favorite government employees Leslie Knope:
“He is the present, sadly, but he is not the future. You are the future. Your strength is a million times his. You power is a billion times his. We will acknowledge this result. We will overcome it, and we will defeat it.”