We asked Trump supporters why they’re voting for him

The 2016 Presidential Election cycle has been a tumultuous year for politics in the United States. Political instability is symptomatic of societal volatility. Mass shootings, protests, standoffs between the federal government and militias, terrorism, riots, drones indiscriminately killing afar, and an increasingly militarized police force gunning down Americans on the street. This cycle of destruction and suffering is seemingly amplified every second.

The fascinating emergence of two diametrically-opposed political candidates is not a coincidence. Bernie and Trump are opposite in every conceivable way. They are the embodiment of simultaneous yet antithetical responses to domestic and global events.

America has experienced decades of corruption. Figures of authority continually disappoint us; sending our young to war, plotting and profiting from human suffering while the majority of Americans are struggling progressively harder to survive. It’s an entropic phenomenon that as we grow in population, there is a tendency for more disorder. Government is one tool for society to regulate this disorder. With any tool (like a gun or a knife) there is both the capacity to do great harm or good.

As a supporter of Bernie Sanders, I thought it would be interesting to contact fans of Donald Trump, to hear about their lives and ideologies firsthand.

Listening to Trump voters, I found perennial sentiments of the human condition emerging.

David, a former Naval Officer of 23 years, expressed contempt for corrupt politicians like Hillary Clinton whose political power and “arrogance coupled with a total lack of morals spells doom for our country.”

Shane, employed by the fossil fuel industry, said Trump isn’t “a paid politician.”

He added: “I believe [Trump] can and will break up the corruption inside,” which is a sentiment echoed by the Sanders campaign.

When a Trump supporter like Kendra, a psychiatric nurse for the criminally insane, told me: “I just want to live my life and be happy… I just want to be left alone,” I completely understand.

She explained: “I have great compassion in my heart. I don’t want or long for people to be harmed. I think Trump will pull our military outta places our noses don’t belong.” I felt a spark of recognition. In that moment partisanship and political groups dissolved and I felt a connection of kinship with Kendra, a moment of appreciation for the beauty of life and for the power of love.

Experience and perspective distort our emotions, allowing us to forget the simple truth of our shared humanity.

I have great respect for David, for his years of selfless service, but he believes: “True men DO build walls… They build them to protect their loved ones from those who would eat them. You can’t change human nature… you have to deal with it face to face.” This is not only paradoxical (being face to face is difficult with a wall between people), it highlights a dualistic perception between the Trump and Sanders movements.

Donald Trump has indisputably done and said a lot of appalling things. What is more fascinating is his ability to mobilize people. Shane expressed a transformation from apathy to passion saying, “I don’t really identify as a Republican. I’ve never voted before this year… I registered Republican to vote Trump.”

Shane added: “We’re letting thousands of Syrian refugees in and we have courts deciding if gays can get married and perverts using the same bathrooms as my daughter. And each year they get closer and closer to taking our guns…”

David is a veteran who wants to protect his family. Shane wants to protect his family. Kendra wants to live her life and be happy. Trump supporters are just people. And Trump’s effectiveness comes at a great cost. He uses encoded hateful language that speaks to the anger and fear within people, like a magnet controlling their moral compass.

Screens surround us, persistently inundating our minds with calculated information, and this is extremely dangerous because this information seeps in like a virus and influences how we think. As I talked to Trump supporters, I heard the language that plays out on liberal media and YouTube videos. I also heard sentiments that were extremely human, with messages eerily similar to the Sanders campaign. Their contrast stems from an inverted perception and reaction to the same reality.

Imagine silent metal birds drifting through the sky raining down Hellfire missiles; caught in the crossfire of wars that are orchestrated by distant governments. All people want to protect their families just like David and Shane, and as fellow humans we need to provide asylum for the agony we are complicit in creating.

Bernie Sanders is a strong figure that stands for true American ideals. He thinks gay rights are human rights. He views our national debt as a collective symptom of our addiction to warfare and idolatry of corporations. He sees income inequality as a product of our capitalist ideals taken too far.

Donald Trump is the living, breathing parody of American ideals. Bernie is portrayed as weak, but it takes a strong person to engage in such an enormous fight (a bit ironic that the “strong” Trump has backed out of a debate with the “weak” Sanders). His strength is exemplified by his restraint of force, of welcoming others and not building walls. Shouting for decades about inequality and injustice, not simply while cameras are rolling or when it becomes a “popular” notion is true strength and integrity. Bernie does not attempt to redirect your moral compass with fear or hatred; he reminds you that it is already there. The Dalai Lama once said, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity will not survive.”