The current state of our country has gotten me down recently. It’s been a week since the election and things seem to have gotten worse instead of better.
This year’s general election campaign seemed to have gotten everyone riled up or apathetic. I didn’t see much in between. In the early stages leading up to the primaries, a lot of millennials were revved up about Bernie Sander’s platform. Millennials turned out in high numbers for the primaries. It gave me hope for our future, regardless of political affiliation.
As time dragged on and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were nominated by their parties, things started to take a saddening turn. People started to turn against each other based purely on their chosen side of the aisle.
Facebook turned into a place of turmoil instead of a fun place to connect with people and a way to escape reality for a minute. Countless people mentioned over the last few months that they deleted their Facebook apps on their phone to limit their exposure to the negative content.
When the week of the election came around I was happy that, regardless of the results, the political ads and social media posts would be over. Boy, was I wrong. While the political ads on TV are over with, everything else isn’t. As someone who doesn’t even have cable I don’t know how I, too, got tired of political ads, but I did. That is the silver lining in this, political ads are over.
I don’t think anyone was prepared for what came after the election.
Outraged Hillary supporters filled the streets. This would have been fine if the protests didn’t escalate past peaceful. In Chicago, American flags were burned and people climbed and shook news vans, screaming “F— the Media.” In my own hometown an off-duty police officer crashed a peaceful anti-Trump protest with a Confederate flag on his truck and cracked a beer in the parking lot.
So both political parties are doing childish things, and it isn’t how the country is supposed to work. The right to protest is protected by the Constitution, but doing so in violent or hateful ways isn’t.
I’m sad about the way both parties are handling the election. Supporters of President-elect Trump are gloating and saying hateful things about the opposing party.
Clinton supporters are doing exactly what they were condemning Trump supporters for doing at rallies—rioting.
The country needs to take a step back and breathe after such a high-strung election. We all need to turn the negativity into something positive.
If you really feel that President-elect Trump isn’t a suitable candidate, then focus your energy into something that will create positive change, not destruction.
If you agree with Trump’s stances, then put your time and effort into something good that will help him succeed as a president.
The best quote I’ve heard come out of this election is a tweet from the Twitter account @clipperkyle that read, “I hope Trump is a good President. Wanting him to fail is like wanting the pilot to crash the plane we’re ALL on. Remember that.”
The greatness of this country comes not from the person who sits in the White House but from the hearts and souls of the citizens of the country. We need to remember that through the next four years. As long as every person does their part to be a better person, we all become better as a result.