Trumpence

“When a nation leaves the fate of his country to an ignorant and fool person, then that nation itself will be remembered in history as the ignorant and fool nation!”

- Mehmet Murat Ildan

Well - the end is apparently nigh. November 9th 2016, and American citizens have decided the direction of international political discourse for the next 4 years. And coincidentally, the Canadian immigration website crashed under an influx of applications.

It's easy to say that the choice should have been straightforward. On the one hand you had a hysterical, manipulative, lying, bitchy, menopausal woman, and on the other you had Hillary Clinton. A choice between a career politician who provokes immense distrust, antipathy and indeed hatred amongst some, against a xenophobic, racist, misogynistic, wilfully ignorant, abusive, tiny-handed, intemperate, orange-hued pervert. That should’ve be straightforward - right?

Wrong. 2016 has been the year of apocryphal misinformation all over the Western world. Remember Brexit? Look at the political landscape all over Europe and one thing is abundantly clear. Fear is the norm and it's being utilised by extremist 'politicians' who exploit that fear by blaming immigrants and 'the establishment' for all their small dicks. And the statistics in EVERY one of these countries indicate that working and lower middle class white men in particular are concerned at what they see as diminishing economic opportunities. But don't get it twisted - there are an incredible number of 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants who are some of the most passionate defenders of this new nationalism (sorry, but if you're of African,Latino or Asian descent complaining about 'immigrants' I can't take you seriously). And they are swallowing the falsehood that immigrants and pesky foreigners in general are the root cause of all their problems. That's why we have Le Pen in France, Viktor Orban in Hungary, the 3 stooges (Boris, Gove & Farage) in the UK and an endless list of 'populist' politicians seemingly the world over. So I suppose you could say things look bleak.

But I refuse to accept this for one reason - our young people or millennials if you prefer. All over the world, these incredible people are tolerant, progressive, optimistic, intelligent, diligent and compassionate. Despite the fact that my generation has limited their options economically, and my parents' generation has screwed them over politically and environmentally, they are creative and enthusiastic about life. And they refuse to subscribe to the modern day Willie Lynch paradigm perpetuated by our political class (that's right - we're all slaves to our political masters). They will hopefully be the generation that breaks the centuries old master-slave relationship that has existed between the ruling classes and the common man. Although they’re gonna have to wait at least 4 more years to do it through legal, political discourse.

So, whilst this Trump victory seems like a potentially apocalyptic scenario, have faith. All empires fall eventually and power structures crumble. The raging, disenfranchised class that I previously mentioned see that their privilege is disappearing. The world has changed forever and they don't like it. They are protesting and raging against the inexorable passage of time but the young will ensure that this victory at the ballot box is temporary. Therefore, I refuse to despair because he has won. Besides, with the benefit cuts taking hold in the UK we're about to witness mass destitution (which we voted for by the way) like never before. And the Brexit consequences haven't kicked in yet!

Remember this - when privilege feels like it's being lost, equality begins to feel like oppression.