The election is over. The votes have been counted. Donald J. Trump will be the next president of the United States. Many people, myself included, are in shock at what transpired Tuesday night. We are now faced with the unknown. We don’t really know what kind of a leader Trump will be. Most liberals predict economic collapse, failure in all of our international relationships and the curtailing of civil rights for Muslims, immigrants, women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community and anyone that is not a WASP male. Conservatives, in contrast, hope that President Trump will grow our economy, secure our borders, and return America to prominence in the world. There is no way of knowing for sure what will happen until Trump has a chance to implement some of his policies. We must now choose how we will react to the choice made by the nation. I have heard plenty of people joke about moving to Canada and Europe. I personally found myself questioning what I thought I knew about our country after it was announced that Trump had won. I could not comprehend how we, as a nation, could possibly elect an anger-driven, fear mongering, sexist bigot. Does that really represent America? I had no hope for our country. This pessimistic outlook is shared by many of those who supported candidates other than Trump. With how negative this election was, a cynical, almost nihilistic reaction by the losing side is to be expected. However, we cannot let this be our long term reaction. Liberals must recognize that most people that voted for Trump are not racist, sexist, bigoted or hate-filled individuals and it derails discussion to label them as such. They have fears about the country, just like most liberals, and Trump is the only candidate that they felt acknowledged those fears. Liberals and conservatives must take time to listen to the fears and concerns of the other side in order to reach genuine understanding and find solutions. This is the only way to keep our nation from becoming further divided.
John Gadient senior Nov. 10
