A LETTER TO POST-ELECTION AMERICA

Dear America,

By now, it has been a week since the 2016 election, and the results were not what I had expected to say the least. As an international student living in the US, my first thought was that I was going to be ushered out of the country as soon as I completed my studies, given the new President’s previous disdain for OPTs and H1Bs. But now that my country’s currency is floundering like a fly in winter, I am terrified that I might be forced to leave even before that.

To the people who voted for Trump, I think I can understand his appeal to a certain extent. From what I gathered, Trump symbolises hope for the struggling working class who had been abandoned by the system. He is a man who doesn’t care about political correctness, a man who will create jobs, boost the economy and keep his country safe from terrorism. I understand that, and I find the people's vehement faith in his words fascinating.

Donald Trump was someone born with a silver spoon, who made his first fortune working for his father and inherited millions more when he passed away. As a youth, he avoided the draft and as a working adult, he avoided paying his federal income tax for years.  The tax used to create better education, medical care and defence for the people. I may be too forward when I say this, but based on these factors, he is not, nor will he ever be one of the people.

Trump’s plan to ban all Muslims is pretty simple, and I have a tendency to distrust any policy plan that can be summarised in three words or less. But I digress. Terrorism wouldn’t be able to operate without the radicalisation of normal people, and radicalisation happens when a minority group feels marginalised or discriminated against, like say, if they were banned from a country for practising the wrong religion. If Trump were to carry out a campaign against 1.3 billion Muslims, how many do you think ISIS could lure over to their side? And speaking of ISIS, let’s not forget about the Muslim Kurds who are fighting and actually winning the war against ISIS. Imagine telling them, “It’s great that you’re fighting and dying alongside us in the war, but we also think that you hate us.”

For those who lost their jobs because of trade or climate change programs, I cannot possibly begin to understand how you feel and I am truly sorry that you were sacrificed in the quest for progress. But take it from someone who got her butt kicked in the economics of trade: Trade is good for a country, even if it doesn’t feel that way in the beginning. It allows countries to produce and export goods that they are really good at, while importing products that they are not so good at making. This makes for a more efficient manufacturing sector, which means more profit all around. Furthermore, trade lowers prices especially for developed countries like the US because goods are being produced in low income countries before being imported to other countries. If your iPhone wasn’t made in China and was produced in the United States instead, the only people who would be able to afford it would be celebrities and well, Donald Trump. (Same goes for other imported goods)

Climate change has always been an issue that I am extremely passionate about and yes, it is a very real thing. Hurricanes, droughts, tsunamis, freak blizzards, all of these phenomenas are signs that we are pushing nature to the brink of retaliation. Melting ice caps and rising sea levels mean that coastal cities like New York, Miami, New Orleans, and San Diego could be drowned, not to mention entire countries like Singapore if we ignore the problem that we are facing now. What happens to the planet affects all of us. People who lost their jobs say that they worry for their children’s future. The truth be told, by electing a President who hates trade and thinks global warming was invented by the Chinese, you are securing your livelihood by pushing these problems to your children and your grandchildren, and they are the ones who will have to deal with consequences that might be too late to fix years down the road.

Now to the liberals who thought they could never lose, I think this election was a wake-up call for those who became a little too confident and convinced themselves that everyone shared their values. They failed take Mr Trump seriously, just like the people in the UK didn’t take Brexit seriously until it was too late. Maybe President Obama should have done more for the people who lost their jobs as a result of increased trade and his climate change actions, and maybe the Democratic Party should have acknowledged that their candidate was not a popular choice and that there are people who had different concerns, and that that didn’t make them less worthy of being heard. Maybe voters should have supported the values that their party stood for, rather than reject the entire system because they preferred a different candidate. But there is no point crying over spilled milk, what matters now is looking towards the future.

After the election, my professor from China reminded the students how lucky they were to be given the opportunity to elect their government, because the people in China were never given that kind of freedom. My country is a democracy, but we’ve been ruled by the same political party since our independence. I can assure you, it was not due to their superb leadership qualities.

Compared to all the people in the world who don’t get a say in who leads them, America is a treasure chest of freedom and democracy. And as someone from the outside looking in, I admire that so much about this country. But after this election, I have also seen people who would rather see that privilege destroyed because it did not conform to their exact liking. Individuals chose not to vote because they wanted a different candidate. All politicians have skeletons in their closets, not one of them is irreproachable. But people need to focus on voting for policies that can help the country grow in the way that fits their goals and values. As I said before, not everyone is afforded that kind of freedom.

The last thing I want to say is: I come from a country where marital rape is not a crime, being gay is illegal and people could lose their jobs or go to prison as a political tactic. I come from a country where having the wrong skin colour means having to pay extra taxes while facing discrimination and hate speech from the very officials who are supposed to protect you. In my country, openly criticising the government could get you arrested, and even attending peaceful demonstrations means risking violent confrontations with the police who face no accountability for what they do to you.

Still, I thank God every chance I get that I was born in my country, because anyone who has ever heard of ISIS knows that it could be so much worse. What I’m trying to say is, you have the right to want a better system, but claiming that your government has abandoned you is completely unfair. Whether you are working five jobs to support your family or if you are a child getting teased for your skin colour or sexual orientation, know that you are blessed because you were still born in a country with an incredible amount of freedom with leaders that care about and listen to their people. Yes, the system is flawed and yes, this has caused a great deal of pain and suffering, but yes, you are still lucky and you should never take your country for granted. Otherwise, one day you might live to regret it.

So I wish you all the best, and I truly hope that better days are ahead of you.

Sincerely,

A tiny country.

*This was meant as a personal opinion piece and not meant as an attack to the US. I hold nothing but admiration and respect for this country.