I Am Frightened

By Rebecca Rue
Opinion Editor

I think that traditionally, it has been easier for people to respect others’ opinions. I know it has for me.

However, this election has been unique where that is concerned. So much is at stake, and peoples’ feelings are so strong, that it is almost impossible to accept the opposite point of view.

Those that have kept a clear head and haven’t gotten lost among the various destructive arguments are commendable.

I respect them more because I myself have been struggling. I don’t see how it makes sense to have supported Trump, and I haven’t heard any arguments by his supporters that don’t sound like a logical fallacy to me.

Yes, people are angry. People want change.

But have they really thought everything through and thrown their support behind a candidate that supports the change that they are looking for? That they need?

Have they taken the whole picture into consideration and challenged their own views against what other people are trying to say?

I don’t believe everyone has.

I remember the fire Bernie Sanders lit under all of his supporters. He inspired us to vote if we hadn’t before. He had policies that I personally agreed with and backed.

The change that we should have been looking for did exist, but he didn’t make it to the presidential election.

It astounds me that a rich man was able to wake up one day and decide that he wanted to run for president and then win.

How is it possible that someone with no experience is able to hold the position of running our country?

Outside of low-level positions, U.S. citizens would have a hard time finding a job without a competitive resume.

Why are we held to standards that the person running our country isn’t?

I know that a lot of citizens are angry about the corporation bought and controlled political candidates.

Isn’t Trump his own one-man “corporation” that doesn’t have to answer to anyone else?

We do need change in America, but Trump isn’t the change that we should’ve been asking for.

At the start of Tuesday evening, I knew that it would be a long night waiting for the final tallies to come in.

However, there was no way to be truly prepared for what it would feel like to sit there for hours watching predictions coming through and for the states to be officially called.

My friends and I cheered when announcements went our way, and commiserated in disappointment when it didn’t.

Early on before it was clear, we settled in to wait. As time went on, however, and Trump continued to build his numbers, a general feeling a fear settled into the air.

Not only does he not have political experience, but he has consistently shown that he doesn’t have the temperament needed to deal with anyone that opposes him in this country or outside of it.

I shouldn’t have to be afraid of our next president and the effect that he is going to have on all of us.

But I am.

Email Becca at:
rrue@live.esu.edu