It’s Not Only About U (S.A)
The presidency of the U.S is a global matter
This morning I woke up to a pretty hostile private message from a user telling me to mind my own business, asking me why I care about the presidency of a country that isn’t mine.
Imagine being so ignorant that you think what your country does in terms of global affairs, climate change, and global economy affects only your country. Hah! Can’t relate.
Europe and the rest of the world has been watching aghast as the country once respected was taken over by a reality TV star who mocks disabled people, has yet to come up with a healthcare plan, is rude to women, doesn’t care about climate change, and the list goes on. His style of leadership is one that lacks grace and dignity. We have been watching from the sidelines as America has become more and more divided under a leader who incites polarization and hatred amongst his own people.
Perhaps the most obvious reason why the world cares and justifiably so, is climate change. Trump’s policies and remarks on the biggest threat to our planet is appalling. I mean, this is the man who once tweeted: “the concept of Global Warming was created by and for the Chinese to make manufacturing non-competitive.” It’s just… actually, never mind. I have no words.
A second Trump presidential term would have lead to acute, irreversible climate damage, according to leading scientists. Another four years of Trump would increase emissions, thrusting our planet above the 1.5ºC warming threshold into dangerously warm territory, thwart cooperative global efforts to combat the climate crisis, jeopardise the health of billions of people worldwide and threaten democratic institutions.
Had Trump been re-elected, the consequences would have degraded the quality of life of every subsequent generation of human beings, with millions of lives harmed or foreshortened in addition to the hundreds of thousands of lives at present that will be hurt or prematurely end.
The fact that someone has the audacity to think that a reckless president who rolled back 150 climate and environmental measure during his presidency affects only his country is ignorance at its finest. We are all in this together.
Side-note, I find it interesting that so many of his devoted fans are religious people who love him mainly because he claims to be pro-life. I want to know what on earth is the point of saving unborn children if you’re going to vote for someone who doesn’t give a crap about destroying the planet for future generations to come. If you are pro-life, you wouldn’t be opposed to universal healthcare and gun-control. Also, if you were educated enough you would know that women living in countries with broadly legal abortion had the lowest rates of unintended pregnancy and the largest decline in the incidence of abortion. Making abortion illegal isn’t going to stop abortion, that’s just a fact. Ensuring that everyone has the same access to healthcare and education on the other hand, will highly reduce it.
I also care about the presidency of the US because I have empathy for all those families separated at the border, and for all the Mexicans who he called rapists, and for all the women he mocked publicly. Even though it’s not happening in my country, I care that in 2017 he signed an executive order to ban people from six Muslim-majority countries and closed the doors for refugees. That is, those who have fled torture, war, and dictatorship. You can’t claim to be concerned with equality if you are concerned about it only within your own borders.
I was watching a Finnish tv-show A-Talk, produced by non-profit news channel YLE on November 3rd. Every Thursday the show brings together guests and experts of the country to debate hot topics of the week. The goal is to find two people who disagree on a topic/view it in a different light, and have a discussion with a moderator.
This past week, the chosen topics obviously included the presidential election of the United States. A-Talk invited two Finnish guests who were eligible to vote in the States in an attempt to discuss two different sides. Interestingly, YLE was unable to find one single Finnish -speaking person who voted for Trump. I’m thinking, how the heck were there 70 million of them in the US?
Receiving that message this morning answered my question. There is one thing in common in every single country that leads to good people voting for bad people.
Ignorance.