Trump won the presidency because Americans fear change

One thing I have noticed about humans is our constant desire for destruction, as well as the cycle of destruction. We have destroyed one another throughout the entire history of mankind – wars, plagues, imperialism. Romeo and Juliet illustrates that even love is destructive.

This presidential election seems like the perfect example. It is America self-destructing itself. The fear in the air is palpable, but the push for Trump as president was fueled by fear, the fear of change. The aftermath of his election is an explosion of this fear. It is overwhelming to see people react to this election with such hatred, fear, and distain.

Trump, a racist, bigot, and sexist, being elected right after our first African American president is dripping with irony. The American population, excluding the more progressive millennial generation, is pushing for regression. “Make American Great Again” is a slogan capitalizing on the dream of regression. We are under the false illusion that things were amazing before certain laws were passed: When the market was more free, America was better off.

Despite what people believe, this old way of life is destroyed. That is how progress is made – you destroy or tear down whatever infrastructure or social code is being practiced, and implement a new policy, which in return ignites changes. It is like a chemical reaction; once you burn a piece of paper or bake cookie dough, you can never make that matter go back to its original state.Just as time does not go back, neither does policy, social progression, the economy, and so forth.

With such groundwork, why do so many American citizens, especially in the older generations, wish for regression? They are meant to be older and wiser than millennials – they are must to understand that going back is not possible. Where does this fairytale of “making America great again” come from? 50 years ago, we were more sexist, segregated, and racially insensitive. Jim Crow laws were still being practiced, freedom of speech was impaired, our knowledge as citizens was impaired and filtered on a daily basis. Today we know a lot more, but I guess this is where the issue lies. We are saturated with information, “the truth” so to speak, and we cannot handle it.

Many millennials would not deny that racism exists, and racism is especially apparent here in the South. Yet I have meet white college students that deny racism exists! They wish to deny race is an issue, despite every African American student I have spoken to expressing their distain, disgust, and remorse over the racism they face on campus daily. The privilege that some people are sitting on is unreal, but these students wish to live in a world where they do not have to accept their social privilege as legitimate, yet still reap the benefits of it.

They do not want to face the truth of their racist tendencies because it would involve them admitting a flaw in their upbringing, their parents’ ideologies, their friends’ shortcomings, and themselves. This is too much responsibility for them, it is too much to admit that they are flawed. By its very nature, it goes against any Christian, Catholic, or Jewish preachings to admit leading such a convoluted life. These students and citizens prefer to live in an idealized world where they are doing exactly what they are “supposed” to be doing – they are working equally as hard in this land of the free, and they will get what they deserve because they earned it! But this is not the truth. We do not live in the land of the free.

This is where racism stems from. From the minds of people who cannot think for themselves, or draft their own moral standings. I believe we are all driven by our fears and insecurities, with one of our largest fears being failure and rejection. To admit failure in what you believe in is too much for people – to radically change your viewpoints for the betterment of another group of people. People do not want to change, and people do not want discomfort. Discomfort comes with change, and change is fearful and threatening. For our own animalistic preservation, humans run from change.

“Make America Great Again” is to reject progression. This may make Baby Boomers happy, but it will harm us young people more than we can begin to process. Just as with Brexit, it was a decision not desired by young people, but it happened because our democracy is failing. Our sister system foreshadowed this election for us, and we still did not listen. Now we will be stuck, for fours years, with a man set on the regression of America, and a team of angry, racist, sexist mobbers willing to go to any extent to preserve “their America.”

All I can hope for is that the world will accept America back into the 21st century after our four year mid-life crisis.