What happened?
My take on the presidential election
The American Electorate
Donald Trump has been elected president by a significant majority of Americans. At first, I took it personally as I share the same birth year as both persons on the democratic ticket, Harris and Walz. I wondered if the majority of Americans hated me as my values and morals aligned with the loser. Then I went to a bleaker, darker outlook: most Americans hate, or at least don’t respect, women or persons of color. But as the days moved on, I settled on a combination of three theories that, for me, explain what motivated the electorate.
1. Don’t tread on me!
Americans do hate, but although some hate certain kinds of people, universally, Americans hate being told what to do. Americans relish their independence and freedom. How this impacted the election is that many Americans heard the democratic party message as commands or orders that hinder their ability to make decisions for themselves. Initially, these Americans did not want to be told to wear masks and get vaccines. These Americans then found they were being told they must like and respect members of other communities different from themselves; you must be nice to the others in our society that are different from whatever you are. You must appreciate and treat with dignity those others who are LGBTQ+, Jews, Muslims, Blacks, Hispanics, disabled, Chinese - whatever you are not and often who you do not know. This manifested as the critical race theory bogeyman in which some Americans’ thought their schools were being required to teach things that were against their beliefs. In all, Americans voted for the “don’t tell us what to do” candidate in direct connection to the historical “don’t tread on me.”
2. Americans Feel Unhappy
Most Americans seem to feel some or all of the following: the grass is greener somewhere else, my neighbor has more than he should, the government doesn’t help me but helps them too much, the prices are too high, there aren’t enough jobs, my salary is too low. All of these result in an overwhelming feeling of unhappiness. The promise of a cure-all that remedies all of these maladies and makes these Americans happier was the winner of the election.
3. 21st Century Media
With the expansion of social media – Instagram, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram – the editors, publishers and gatekeepers of our news who selected the issues of the day and verified accuracy have been marginalized and largely removed from importance. With so many Americans relying on personally sourced information, the veracity of information has been replaced by the sensational and fraudulent. Plus, the expansion of hyperpartisan channels led by Fox news and podcasts have promulgated tilted stores and fabricated concerns. In addition, Americans had a certain comfort from Trump being known resulting from regular exposure on national media since the 1980s contrasted with the relatively unknown Harris who was a newcomer to national attention who stepped on the national stage only a few months prior to the election. The combination of misinformation and comfort directed Americans to vote for Trump.
Fearful of Tomorrow
Now we wait. We will soon see if the harmful huckster, king bullshitter who was elected can achieve any, most, some, or few of the measures promised. On the humanitarian side, will there be actions to deport anyone, only criminals, undocumented workers, persons of certain races or national origin? On the business side, will there be tariffs on goods we all purchase, which goods, which source countries – in practice, will popular Ford and Chevy electric cars from Mexico suffer? Will your Chinese made iPhones go up in price? On the hateful side, will vigilantes, militias and other unofficial but verbally empowered pseudomilitary groups take actions in line with the rhetoric hunting down those perceived as a threat? I am fearful for all of this.