Mr. Donald J. Trump

When he first announced his candidacy for president, I personally thought it was a joke. I was in France at the time, and my French friends also thought it was a joke. Unfortunately, as we have learned, it is definitely not a joke. He is 100% trying to be the next president of the United States, and he’s coming incredibly close to winning the Republican nomination. I’m not sure what makes him so favorable, but he has proved himself to be unstoppable. He’s even funding almost his entire campaign himself.

It’s a nightmare.

Some think he is a good candidate because he has not been a part of politics before, because he has no filter, or because he is not afraid of what people think.

Some people have told me that they are voting for Trump purely based on his economic policies. To be fair, his healthcare plan is close to Bernie’s. He heavily emphasizes trade between US and China.

However, Americans are forgetting a few key things here.

1. About 30% of our GDP comes from international trade.
2. Trump’s policies are extractive, and with extractive economics produce extractive politics .
3. Donald’s political policies are quite radical and discriminatory to minorities.
4. He’s a package deal, you can’t have his economic policies without his political policies.
5. Many of our major trading partners FUCKING HATE Donald Trump.

Economic sanctions imposed by the UN or other countries independently could stop Diva Donald and his economic master plan in a half of a second, especially if they were key countries with whom the US trades heavily. For example, the United Kingdom has already publicly expressed their hatred for Trump, and most likely, if the UK does it, the rest of the European Union will follow suit. If this happens, it could send the United States and our economy down the rabbit hole — and fast. If one of us goes down, others are going down with us. Just look at what happened to the German and European economy after Angela Merkel imposed sanctions on Vladimir Putin after he wouldn’t calm his shit in the Ukraine about 2 years ago. Both Germany and Russia suffered economically.

Personally, I think that his economic policies are more or less extractive. Extractive economics and extractive politics do not produce growth. A country that does not grow economically will either become stagnant or produce less, which, going along with Donald’s plans, will further drive a wedge between the poor and the rich, significantly increasing our Gini coefficient.

Politically, the Diva himself is blunt, and he is not afraid to speak his mind. I think this is why he seems so appealing to people, especially to those who fear the increase in terrorist activities across the world. Their fear is 100% valid, although there are more constructive and more proactive ways to going about addressing this fear.

Building a wall to separate us from Mexico is not the answer.

Honestly, if I were in Mexico, I would be like “A wall to separate us from Trump? Dude, sign me up.” But seriously, that’s just going to make people find more dangerous ways to cross the border. Look at what is already happening down south, people die trying to make it across the desert and border control finds dead bodies on any given day. Look at what is happening in Europe with Syrian refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean into Greece and Italy: rafts are failing and thousands of people have already drowned.

Prohibiting the entrance of non-citizen Muslims into the US (even if only temporarily) is not the answer.

I just…I just really don’t know what to say to this. You’re literally feeding into what the terrorist organizations are trying to accomplish: a divide between Muslims and everyone else in hopes of Muslims feeling marginalized and angry to join their movement in order to strengthen their organization. He would be essentially handing this to them on a silver platter.

Also, have any of you been through US border control via air travel recently? Or Canadian air border control? Or Mexican land border control? It’s some scrutinizing savagery, speaking from experience, and I go through the American citizen line. We have some of the toughest border control at points of entry in the world. Even getting a visa to come here, for non-ESTA countries, you’re required to have a US citizen sponsor your travel to even be considered for a visa. ONLY THEN can you start the lengthy interview process and background check at the US Embassy in your home country. If you’re issued a visa, then you can finally board a plane to the US, and they can still refuse your entry at boarders and send you back to your home country, without US entry — and this does happen. Also depending on your passport, you’re likely to be held in immigration holding for at least 2 hours as a precautionary measure before they let you leave the airport. To me, it would almost seem like too much of a hassle as a foreigner to travel to the US. So, I think we are doing fine in this department.

(The reason I mention Canada and Mexico along with US air travel is because they could also enter from these two countries, since they are not driving from the Middle East.)

And what the hell is with the possibility of making US citizens of the Islamic faith register in a database? Are you purposely trying to implement the American Kristallnacht? Why are they subject to certain tracking or restrictions because of their faith? Hell, if we are going to go that route, we might as well make all white men who buy guns register in a database too, because they’re usually responsible for a large portion of domestic terrorism in this country.

“Women should be punished for abortion”

…yeah, the fuck? I feel like we need to replay that video that went viral a few years ago where the newscaster asked why women would ever get an abortion and the male republican representative was like, “uh…I…I don’t know why a woman would have an abortion.”

NO SHIT. YOU’RE NOT A WOMAN.

Please just stay out of my uterus…especially if you don’t have one. I don’t think anyone is ‘pro-abortion,’ hence why we don’t use that term. However, being ‘pro-choice,’ means that we support the woman’s right to choose how to proceed with open arms and support, rather than judgement and hate. The way I look at it, another woman’s choice to have an abortion does not really affect you, it’s not your life. I can 100% guarantee you that no woman gets pregnant on purpose with the intention of having an abortion.

No longer accepting refugees (Syrian or otherwise) is not the answer.

This topic is one that I am particularly more passionate about. I’m a firm believer that “whether you live should not depend on where you live.” I’ve spent a lot of time with refugees and asylum seekers over the past year, and news flash: they are not bad people. They are honestly some of the sweetest and kindest people that I have ever met. They are educated and driven; they were just dealt a difficult hand. Their families have been murdered and they have been beaten because of their gender, social, religious, or political identities — qualities that they cannot change.

The process that they have to go to in order to come to the US is rigorous, much like the one I’ve described above. Refugees enter on “refugee visas,” which are almost impossible to obtain, requiring a process more lengthy than a tourist visa, and if you’re Syrian, forget it. If you enter on a visa for a conference, medical care, tourism, etc, you have one-year to submit your request for asylum. This process is even more rigorous and there are interviews, lawyers, affidavits, medical exams, and personal testimonies of trauma. Asylum seekers often wait between 8 months to 2 years for a decision. Reviewers can deny their request at any point for any reason — and they do not even have to have a concrete reason.

So ask yourself, why was I born in America? Why am I an American? If you obtained your citizenship through descent, you really don’t have an explanation for why you’re an American. So what turn of events led you to be brought up and a citizen of a safe, politically stable country?

Luck.

Just because you were dealt a good hand, does not mean that those who were not should not be allowed the opportunity to be alive and safe. Didn’t we learn as children that “it’s what’s on the inside that counts?” It’s not race, nationality, gender, or social class that should determine how you perceive someone. We learned that we should treat everyone with respect, regardless of their background. We learned not to exclude people for qualities, such as the ones listed above, that they have little to no control over. Remember what we all learned in kindergarten about how to treat people, and check your privilege.

Other countries are not exactly too thrilled with all of his shenanigans. Since we all share the planet, it is crucial that we all cooperate. I’m not saying that we should not disrupt the status quo, but let’s not single out an entire religion based on what a small amount of people have done, okay?

Diva Donald also condones violence. His rallies have become increasingly violent over the past few months from security dragging out African-Americans and Muslim-Americans, to saying that he would punch certain people who attend his rallies, to some of his supporters becoming violent with Trump protestors. Trump is promoting this, and it is clear that he does not have any intentions on putting a stop to this, coming to an agreement peacefully, or peacefully and constructively addressing concerns of his opposition. It is actually illegal for a presidential candidate to condone violence, and I’m quite surprised that no one has said anything about it. This attitude could lead to significant detriments to political order in our country.

2016: Trump won’t win.

2017: Trump can’t do that, can he?

2018: Are you watching The Hunger Games tonight? I hope my district wins.

A presidential candidate is literally promoting violence.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees something wrong with this picture, because that’s fucking terrifying.

I’m not here to tell you who to vote for, because honestly that would be like you telling me what to do with my body. (oh wait…) I’m not trying to make Donald Drumpf again, either. I would ask, however, that you strongly consider the long-term and international effects of the candidate you chose to endorse, rather than a ‘quick-fix’ or someone who is going for the popularity vote. Even if you think that we need to ‘fix what is happening at home before we can worry about other countries,’ it’s naïve to think that what one of the most powerful nations in the world does not affect everyone else.