What Have We Done?

Out of all of the strange phenomenon in this country from hover boards to Harambe, I never thought the strangest would be the 2016 presidential election. Who really saw this coming? It has broken the mold of every other election in the past and I am not sure if that is a great thing. Once the field of candidates narrowed down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I began to lose all hope for this country. One candidate celebrated racism and sexism while the other was attached to sticky political situations and embodied the true form of an insider; both were too unreliable for me to solidly back with confidence. But I voted and accepted Donald Trump as our president, reluctantly respecting our country's decision, hoping for the best. However after watching "The Waldo Moment" in class, my sense of blind-optimism has greatly diminished due to the creepy similarities our election and the tv short have.

"The Waldo Moment" follows a parliament election in Britain that spirals out of control when a blue, cartoon bear named Waldo pokes fun at the flaws within the government. He spouts crass and polarizing remarks to gain attention and higher ratings for the show that he represents. The more and more the bear gets recognized, the more he begins to represent a symbol of anarchy and violence, which the people seem to love. They disregard the chaos that occurs when there is a lack of order and compassion for all. This leads to an unstable, unlivable future. As the credits rolled, I thought "Oh God, what have we done?" We elected Waldo.

Waldo and Trump both represent a people tired of the system, tired of being ignored and pushed aside. That part is good; everyone should be represented and heard. However, the harmful, reductive, non-progressive things they preach get us nowhere. They divide us rather than unite. When Trump spoke of anything regarding a type of American, from Muslims, to women, to Mexican-Americans, he found a way to make the topic be an "us and them" issue. He categorized what a correct and incorrect American looked liked, which was extremely morally wrong and ignorant. And what has this ignorance done? It has led to violence, protests and anger. His aggressive words have sparked this violence just as Waldo's profanity and praise of violence led to more of it.

Both candidates became popular because of their quotability rather than their competence in understanding their people. And that revelation scares me.