Take the Joke with a Grain of Salt

It's not very often in life when jokes become reality. No one ever expects the jokes to be anything other than something to laugh at. However, it is often because people don't take certain things seriously that they are allowed to find such solid footing in reality. Such was the case in The Waldo Moment, an episode from the Netflix television series, Black Mirror, in which a blue cartoon bear, named Waldo, runs for MP. Waldo mainly ran on the idea of anti-politics. Since so many people have begun to feel like politicians are dishonest, it makes sense why so many people would connect with this. They would rather vote for something that was essentially a joke than to put their vote towards a politician who would actually have more of an idea what he or she was doing. In the end, despite Waldo still being seen as a joke, he earned a lot of traction in the election. Rather than being disregarded as many people expected to happen, Waldo was runner-up in the election. Whether or not people voted for him as a joke, their votes counted as something serious.

Thankfully, this was just a part of a television show and didn't actually happen. . . . Well, technically, it has happened. In America, the possibility of the business man and television star, Donald Trump, becoming president never originally seemed to exist. When the idea first sprung up, people welcomed the idea of Trump running for president. The idea seemed so preposterous at the time that no one really thought anything would come of it. In fact, people egged him on, encouraging them to run, so they could have something and someone to laugh at. Even, as he continued to progress and gain more support, people laughed at the thought of him becoming president. Perhaps, they thought all of the support he earned was just some sort of mockery towards him, but it's possible that some of that support was sincere. In either case, like with the story of Waldo, that support was a serious business and did a lot to help him along in gaining more and more support. Only now that Donald Trump has basically been assured the role of president of the United States of America has the American population really realized the error of their ways in joking about this non-politician. One of the main differences between The Waldo Moment and the United States election is that while Donald Trump actually won the election, Waldo did not. 

Due to the fact that Waldo did not actually win his election, there is no way to know from that episode just what exactly could happen with Donald Trump as president. Perhaps, he might be a much better president than America originally assumed from his character. All of his ideals could have just been a front to add on to the joke he knew Americans would find entertaining, and he might show his true colors by leading America to a better political standing. On the other hand, he could be the worst president the world has ever seen due to his lack of experience in politics. He did win the election though, so maybe that does actually stand for something. Only time will tell if the Americans were right to consider him as just a joke or if they need to start taking their jokes with a grain of salt.