.png)
 |
| Garrett Kasey Class of 2020 |
Tuesday night, I went to bed before Wisconsin had been called by the Associated Press, but I did so with an uneasy certainty of what was to come.
Wednesday morning, I woke up to the line, “President Trump,” headlining almost every news article I could come across. It was my worst political nightmare, but the electoral college had done what it was intended to do. America spoke. After reading more election information from the night before and collecting some of my thoughts, I braced myself to walk out into the world before me.
Contrary to what many may have expected (including myself), the world I walked into remained largely unchanged. The free market as we know it hadn’t collapsed. The majority of Americans still respected women and minorities. The American democratic experiment had not failed. I pondered why the world hadn’t become the tumultuous place I had expected (minus the protests), and a few answers came to mind. Maybe it was simply because Donald Trump won’t be able to enact any policy until early next year, but I ruled that out because it’s been proven that Trump doesn’t really need any policy to cause a stir. I thought also that perhaps the world remained this way because our reactive press hadn’t been able to cause the complete and utter turmoil it usually does, but by midday our American society had not fallen apart. The conclusion I came to was that the American spirit, the glue that holds our people together, doesn’t depend on the president, president elect, or even the government as a whole for its existence. In a government by, for, and of the people, one man cannot ruin the hope of the masses.
Even though I am disappointed in America for choosing someone I believe is unfit to lead, this country has plenty of room to redeem itself with how it chooses to react. The election was divisive, but the next four years can be reunifying. Americans must come to see that American government is not about “them vs. us.” It is an institution that is for all of us, all Americans. I am a big believer that Americans have much more in common with each other than that which differs. This is true in regards to policy beliefs as well. The next four years are for rebuilding what was once a collective and collaborative American populace. When the people are united, so shall the government be as well. Even with the majority in Congress and the Presidency belonging to one party, nothing truly profound in its nature will happen in government until it becomes a body willing to work together again. This is why we must move on. We the people are the beginning of this movement toward a unified country. Whether your candidate won or lost on election day, exit polls saw that most Americans voted because they wanted to see a change. As Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Moving on from this divisive period and working for a unified America will create more change than any election ever has or ever will.
Garrett Kasey, of Elizabethtown, Ky., is a freshman scholar studying economics, Spanish, political science and history.