Shock and outrage are understatements when describing the common reaction to last week’s election of Donald J. Trump as the next president of the United States. The first few days following the election have been characterized by fear for what may occur over the next four years, anger that our country could look up to someone like Mr. Trump and outright rejection of the outcome of the election. Many across the nation have even taken to the streets, their anthem loud and clear: “He’s not my president.”
The reasons for the distrust and dislike of our president-elect are many and diverse, even among those who voted him into office. Many call him a racist and sexist, some fear he will deport all foreigners and restore slavery and others do not want to entrust the temperamental Trump with the country’s nuclear codes. Regardless of the reasons for disliking or distrusting Trump, he is our next president. We can reject the outcome of the election, we can flee the U.S. and move to the land of our ancestors or we can accept the outcome of the election and try to see how we can become a “more perfect union” over the next four years. For my part, I see three specific positive outcomes of the election that may serve the betterment of our nation.
The first positive outcome of the election is the humbling of the media. Almost everyone predicted a different outcome. Hardly anyone predicted that Donald Trump would be our next president — most polls and the general public outcry suggested he would not win. I even read an article that wondered if Clinton could win this election by a landslide. Clinton did not win by a landslide, not even close. She won the popular vote, but she lost just the same. This is a humility check for the media and news outlets. As I heard someone put it, America is not Washington or even just the urbanites. America is a large and diverse country and the votes of liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, count equally. It is time that the media realize this and start to represent all points of view equally — or risk another humbling.
The second positive outcome of this election is motivation for greater involvement in politics. Trump supporters and protesters alike have legitimate concerns about the policies he has proposed for his presidency. It is very possible that president-elect Trump will pursue policies throughout his presidency that will not be in the best interest of the poor, the marginalized or even the middle class. Trump is president, and he does have a large amount of power and influence, but he and the government work for us. The U.S. Government is supposed to be a government by the people and for the people. If we do not like the proposals and policies that will come with the presidency of Donald Trump, then it is our right and responsibility to protest against them. I believe more Americans will take this right and responsibility more seriously now that Trump is our president.
The third positive outcome of this election concerns protection of the innocent. After this election, the political party that protects the rights of the unborn — the Republican Party — has control of the White House, the Senate and the House. In our modern time, there is so much talk about discrimination and equality, and rightly so. However, somehow we seem to ignore the discrimination against and the inequality of the unborn when it comes to abortion rights. We say black lives matter but we ignore that there are more black children killed by abortion in New York City than carried to term there. We seek to protect an immigrant’s right to live in our country, but we do not protect a child’s right to live in their mother’s womb for the first nine months of their lives. There are many social justice issues of our time, but none is quite as urgent as the destruction of the innocent, voiceless, powerless and completely vulnerable lives of unborn human people. An undoubtedly positive outcome of this election is that the political party that seeks to end that discrimination now has the power to do so. I firmly believe that any government that is serious about the rights and well-being of its entire people will first seek to protect the rights of the unborn and then seek to ensure that those rights are protected all throughout life as well.
The United States of America is far from perfect and so is president-elect Trump. However, I believe that there are positive results of this election that will bring us closer to that more perfect union with a government that is by all the people and for all the people.
