Either way, hate won
Dr. Robert Higgs once said : “when you are presented with a choice between two evils, do not choose the lesser. Choose the exit. ” Today I woke up disappointed. In January, the greater of two evils will be officially sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. As an American citizen living in Peru for the past twenty years, I can honestly say two things:
- Had I voted I would not have voted for either Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Trump.
- Democracy as Americans know it is a sad, beaten, dead horse.
I find both Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton repudiable characters. Him for his ill-timed, hate-mongering propaganda. Her for her manipulative deceits, cahoots with warmongers, and maintaining a corrupt status quo. Both speeches have been filled with hate and lies. Both have sought to attack not only people of the US but foreigners as well. Both have stated that the only way to achieve peace domestically and internationally is to pursue war — a statement which I lacks any sense.
There have been far better candidates this election. People like Jill Stein or Gary Johnson could probably be better presidents than either Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton. I find that they honestly wanted to stay away from foreign politics in favor of building a better domestic US. Unfortunately, because of the way the democratic system works, we will probably never know what a third party candidate has to offer if given the chance.
Americans are proud to flaunt how democratic they are. They pride themselves in bringing democracy to other countries. Nevertheless, how democratic can a system be if you are only offered two choices? Sure there are third choices but again: how democratic can a system be when a vote for a third choice is a wasted vote?
I’m sorry to say that a reason Mr. Trump (or in an alternate universe Mrs. Clinton) is about to sit in the White House is because the American system is not democratic. If it truly were, then there would be other options available; options that would not be wasted if voted upon. When you walk into Baskin Robbins, you don’t have two flavors to choose from, you have 31. How would you feel knowing that, despite having 31 options, you may only choose from two of them? That’s the American electoral system in a nutshell: having 3, 4, 5 or 31 available candidates but only being able to (realistically) choose between two.
Hate drove this election. Hate has finally won this election. I am not sad that Mr. Trump will assume office. I am sad that in spite of this, Americans still believe that their system is the greatest. I am disappointed that hate has been a far greater motivator than love, tolerance or sincerity. The only solace that I have knowing the outcome of this election is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And I believe that by 2020, nothing will have changed. Isn’t that sad too?
