Why Our Reaction To The Election Says More About Us Than The Election

This election night was a roller coaster ride for many. I think we can all agree with that.

I spent the evening in a hotel lobby with some good friends while on a business trip watching the results come in.

And as the night went on, and it became more and more apparent that Trump was going to win, we saw more and more people crying around us.

There was an educators conference going on at the hotel as well, and they obviously, as a block, wanted Clinton to win.

I heard people sobbing about the results. And it broke my heart.

The problem isn’t with the system. Even though the system has many problems. The problem isn’t with Trump. Even though Trump has many problems. The problem isn’t why Hillary lost. Even though there are many reasons she did.

The problem is the faith, the trust, and the hope we place in one individual we think can change the course of our lives.

The problem is the faith, the trust, and the hope we place in one individual we think can change the course of our lives.

There’s a growing concept out there that some are referring to as the “cult of the presidency.”

You see, the president was never meant to be very powerful. He, or she, was merely supposed to execute the laws that Congress enacted (and foreign relations).

Don’t get me wrong, that still gave the president a lot of power. But the president cannot legislate. The president cannot make laws. The president cannot do most of the things that we want the government to do. And the president can’t do 90% of the things they promise they’ll do. They just don’t have the power to do it.

And that is why the founding fathers set up our government this way.

Therefore, when someone like Trump wins the presidency, we have confidence that his influence can only go so far. Congress can keep him in check. As well as the Supreme Court. And if you think Trump has Congress in his pocket, then you haven’t been watching the news over the last six months.

The problem is not Trump. The problem is that we as individuals have placed our hope, and even a piece of our identity (how we view ourselves and our self-worth) in the candidate of our choosing.

And when that candidate loses, we feel like a piece of our own identity lost. We feel like the country rejected our values, and therefore rejected us.

We feel marginalized and invisible. We feel insignificant and under the boot of our opponent. We even want to say, “Not my president.”

But that says more about us than it does the election.

A wise person once said, “Insecurity is a wrong security exposed.” Meaning, when we feel marginalized or insecure, we have placed our sense of self (or security) in the wrong place.

Why on earth do we allow our sense of self-worth and validation to depend on who gets elected?

If you were devastated by the results of election night, I ask you to take a moment and look within.

• Did you misplace your confidence?
• Did you buy the lie that you’re a victim if the opponent wins?
• Did you swallow the idea that one person can fix our problems?
• Did you drink the partisan Kool-Aid that said, “if the other person wins we’re all doomed?”.

If so, then you may have unwittingly joined the cult of the presidency. And I invite you now to breathe a sigh of relief.

The world is not going to end.

Our hope, as people and a civilization, has to be in something other than one person who is in office for 4 to 8 years… and whose job description explicitly keeps them from writing laws or enacting edicts.

And if you are still worried about what Trump might do, then I also invite you to take a second look at how you want your government structured.

Do you want a government so powerful that a person like Trump can have that kind of power?

Is that the kind of government you want? If it isn’t, then we need to restore the values of the republic.

This was a truly emotional day. And many people are still processing through the results of the election.

But if you take nothing else from this post, please take hope.

Let’s reinvest in our system, reinforce the values of the separation of powers, and enforce the strict limitations the constitution places on the presidency.

Then, we can all go back to living the lives we want to live.

Let freedom reign.

Originally published at www.seanedwards.com on November 9, 2016.
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