A lot has happened over the past month. I frankly had no idea what to write about. I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that I had consumed. I am going to make some claims and opinions. Some disagree with them. However, it is still a free country, at least for the near future. The first point I want to bring up is essential. An economic recession is coming. It will be bigger than the 2008 crisis.
I believe the United States will experience an economic recession in the next year or two. I base this claim on the fact that we are waging a trade war with our neighbors and allies. Mexico and Canada, may I remind you, are responsible for more than 40% of our imports. We as a nation are burning bridges that will take years to repair and they will never fully recover. The United States has once again become the laughing stock of the globe; however, it is more dangerous this time.
Trump’s use of tariffs as some form of psychological manipulations is explicit and disturbing. Trump uses them as if they are playing cards. In a sense, they are. However, he is gambling the fragile global economy on it. The world has become more and more integrated. Consequently, tariffs are seen as more of a hindrance to trade rather than a facilitator. Because the world is run on capitalism, society functions solely on competition. If we attempt to eliminate that competition, everything becomes 10x more expensive. People are going to lose their jobs, their homes, and their livelihoods.
Trump has not once and will never consider the 99% in his decision making. The “federal cuts” he and his bootlicking puppy, Elon Musk, have been making this past month clearly demonstrate this. In an attempt to eliminate government waste, the Department of Government Efficiency has removed tens of thousands of positions. These positions are important to our government. What sticks out to me the most is the national parks. A multitude of rangers, paramedics, locksmiths, and employees were let go. The people who make $40,000 a year are not the issue. The real problem is the top 1%. They have decided to strip the United States of all of its integrity and destroy everything that we hold dear. Immigrants are not taking regular American jobs, it is our government that has turned against us.
The Trump Administration has caused significant harm to the United States in less than 4 months. This impact is more important than any other presidency since the foundation of the United States. We have elected people who turn their backs on those who need us most, explicitly looking at Ukraine. When President Zelensky of Ukraine visited the White House last week, he faced criticism, bullying, and harassment. Our own President and Vice President berated him for not being “thankful”. We have become a joke of a nation. We criticize and belittle a democratic leader fighting a war against a dictator. Donald Trump refuses to call him a dictator. Yet, he decides that President Zelensky is a dictator for not allowing Russia to control Ukraine.
I have personally never been more disappointed as an American. This is not the America that I grew up in. The world that I grew up in was tolerant of every human being. It didn’t matter their position in politics or their ideologies. Frankly, everyone respected each other for being human. The United States has had a lot of issues. We still need to figure them out and solve them. The Trump Administration has pushed us not only 60 years back. Now I fear we do not have the strength in our government to go back.
Those whom we have elected to represent us have failed us. We, the people, must fight back for our democracy. We must fight tooth and nail until we are all equal. Only then will freedom be genuinely achieved. We cannot live under an oppressive rule. A man with a fake tan tells his little goons that the people are nothing more than workers. He claims that we mean nothing. This is the land of the free. It is the home of the brave. If we do not stand against tyranny, then who do we become? If not liberated or equal, then what are we?
The United States has entered a new era of Authoritarianism.
The Inauguration of the 47th President of the United States
On January 21, at noon Eastern time, Donald J. Trump was inaugurated for a second time as the 47th president of the United States. Trump is the second president to serve a nonconsecutive term, second only to Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President. On Inauguration Day, Trump was surrounded by his closest friends and family. Most were tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and of course, his shadow Elon Musk. Before the inauguration, billionaires like Bezos and Zuckerberg made significant contributions to the Trump campaign. They preventively secured their spot on Trump’s Tower of Praise.
The United States Government is becoming increasingly comprised of unqualified billionaires and extreme ideologies. One can’t help but question the future of this poppycock Democracy for the next four years. What will it be like for the 334 million people in the U.S.?
4 Years of Regression in 24 Hours
In the 24 hours that followed Donald Trump’s inauguration, he signed 26 Executive Orders. This was the most ever signed by a President on their first day in office. Executive Orders are official wishes. They are not law. Congress and the courts must review them to ensure compliance with the United States Constitution.
There are two Executive Orders that stick out to me the most. First, there is the order to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented parents. This is not only problematic but simply unconstitutional. In the United States we have a system of checks and balances in place to stop actions that are unconstitutional. The proposed end to birthright citizenship will die. This happens because our system works. If it doesn’t work, there will be many legal issues that Trump and the entire Administration will face. The two major consequence of ending birthright citizenship would be A. a president can now change the meaning of the constitution, and B. this would change what it means to be American and who qualifies as an American.
Secondly, the residence of the 2021 Title IX order prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. This order would prevent people who identify with a different gender. It would also stop those with a different sexual orientation from listing that on official government documents. Additionally, it would state that the federal government will only recognize two genders: male and female. Unfortunately, I do see this order being the most likely to pass. However, we tend to forget about States’ rights and their ability to block Executive Orders. They can do so if they deem these orders unconstitutional to their state’s constitution. For anyone who is apart of the LGBTQIA+ community, do not fear your Democratic states have your back.
Daddy Issues in the Tech Industry
Moving on from executive orders, I want to mention the countless bootlicking Tech Billionaires briefly. They have been shoveling money to the Trump campaign for months now. These billionaires, such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, are trying to secure their platforms. They are aligning with the MAGA agenda. AKA ending fact-checking for Meta and Twitter, now known as X. Additionally, in terms of TikTok, the CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was also in attendance. The push to ban TikTok started way back in Trump’s first term. He believed TikTok was a national security risk. Four years later, he has changed his mind and “has a soft spot for TikTok”. When the app went dark on January 19th, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the ban. Trump was very public. He was eager to state that he was going to be the savior of TikTok. Not even 24 hours after the app went dark, it reappeared with a very pro-Trump message.
Many users quickly point out this as a blatant manipulation by the Trump Administration. It was an attempt to rally Gen Z, of which he lost about 11%.
Elon Musk and DOGE
I want to circle back to tech billionaires, especially Elon Musk, also known as Trump’s shadow. Elon had been very prominate in the campige of Donald Trump. During the last few months of the election, he bribed voters in key swing states. They could win 1 million dollars if they voted for Trump. Now, he has done Trump’s dirty work. He gets to be in charge of his own department. The department is called the Department of Government Efficiency, conveniently abbreviated as DOGE. I also want to quickly mention the “Roman Salute” he did not once but twice post-inauguration. If you support the “Roman Salute” and claim it is not a symbol of Fascism, you should read any history book from the late 1930’s to the 1940’s. The craziness continues with Trump’s second cabinet pick.
Trump’s Problematic Cabinet Pick
Pete Hegseth, for instance, is in line to be the Secretary of Defense. This is a very crucial role in the Presidential cabinet. He is known as a misogynist and supposed extremist. Hegseth is the furthest thing from qualified you can be to head up this position. Yes he was in the National Guard for roughly 14 years. He appeared on Fox News. He also led a Veteran organization but was kicked out for being too extreme. Additionally, there are allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct. If Hegseth is confirmed to be the Secretary of Defense, the United States has lost all moral grounds.
Trump’s Golf of America
Speaking of stupid ideas, Donald Trump went on a renaming rampage. He signed an executive order to rename the tallest mountain in North America, Mt. Denali, back to its previous name, Mt. McKinley. I, quite frankly, do not see any real purpose in doing this. It seems to undermine the History of Native Americans in the region. Additionally, he signed another order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Again, stupidity seems to be a very dominant feature in all of Trump’s actions. Trump has a sense that the United States needs to bring back the principles of Manifest Destiny and start expanding. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he intends to acquire Greenland. He also wants to make Canada perhaps the 51st and 52nd States in the Union. It is like I am being told these outlandish stories. They cannot be accurate, but the words come straight from the horse’s mouth.
Concluding Thoughts
I am going to be honest. These next four years are going to be challenging. They will be stressful for many of us. Having a government that is controlled by the 1% does not and will not benefit the other 99%. Trump has made that very clear. We can see this at the inauguration, which was held indoors. Only the top of the political food chain was allowed to view this spectacle.
Meanwhile, Trump’s most loyal followers stood outside in sub-zero temperatures. They praised a man who would never live up to his expectations. He will continue to push them down to lift himself up.
On January 21st, Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States. These next four years will be unorthodox and challenging if Donald Trump holds firm with his plan on deportation, eradicating the Department of Education, and expanding the territory of the U.S.
Trump’s Plan for Immigration
Donald Trump ran his 2024 campaign on one central platform: immigration. He declared that on day one of his presidency, he would round up illegal immigrants in the United States. He planned to deport 2-20 million of them. My biggest concern was how on earth can he do this legally and ethically. In recent weeks, Tom Homan, the Trump-appointed border Czar, released a statement. He outlined how millions of immigrants would be deported. On January 21st, the Trump administration will start raids on suspected illegal immigrants in Chicago.
Chicago is just the first step in Trump’s “Deport America” plan. He also wants to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who were born in the United States. This plan is not only unconstitutional but un-American. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship. Any person born inside the United States is a citizen. It does not matter where their parents were born or their documentation status. To end birthright citizenship to U.S. citizens would strip away the very foundation upon which this country was built.
Eliminating birthright citizenship is abhorrent. In my previous post about immigration and slavery in the United States, I discussed the importance of Immigrants. They played a crucial role in building a nation that actively works against them. Once Donald Trump takes office on Monday, Americans will be under a new system. This system will destroy what it means to be American. They will also attempt to expunge the history of immigrants and slavery.
Trump Plans to Eradicate Education in America
Under Trump’s administration, the Department of Education will be abolished, and the states will be allowed to control the narrative. As many of us may not know, history is dictated by the winners. However, acknowledging one’s shortcomings is key to learning from them. Allowing states to dictate their own curriculum allows disinformation to be taught to our children.
In the state of Oklahoma, the state superintendent, Ryan Walters, ordered that the King James version of the Christian Bible be taught in schools across Oklahoma. Forcing the Bible to be taught in schools is not only unconstitutional but highly concerning. Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, it states…
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
The First Amendment guarantees the right to freedom of religion. No government establishment, including schools, can favor or impose any religion. When we stray from factual information in schools, we lean toward the teachings of fiction. We begin to purposely ignore our past and the tragedies we as a nation have committed.
Expanding the Empire?
Along with deportation and abolishment of the Department of Education, Trump hopes to gain the support of Greenlanders and welcome Greenland into the United States. Trump had sent out his son Donald Trump Jr. to scope out Greenland, shockingly the only people willing to converse with Donald Trump Jr. were supposedly homeless people who were paid to be there. On a personal note, if I were a person from Greenland, I would never join the United States. Knowing anything about the United States’ treatment of Native Americans would prevent me from doing so. Knowing their history would prevent me from considering such a thing.
The most shocking thing, however, is the unlimited support that Trump receives from his avid followers. It saddens me to know that many of these Americans are some of the most hard-working individuals you will ever meet. Yet, they refuse to go beyond what they already believe.
Final Reflection
Stupidity and ignorance is a disease that is taking America by storm. Many Americans accept information at face value. They neglect to research anything further. Alternatively, they reject any conflicting information. When Trump takes office on Monday, I hope no harm comes to anyone working or living inside the United States. This applies whether they are there legally or not. To live in the United States, for many is a dream. For Trump to dismantle the foundation of America would be catastrophic.
The United States of America was built on the backs of slaves and had working immigrants whose work is credited to the wealthy landowning white men who claimed to be the architects of the free world.
First Arrivals
In 1620, one of the first groups of immigrants came to what would become known as the United States. Puritans from the United Kingdom fled to the eastern coast of North America to escape the religious persecution they were subjected to back in England. These Puritans were some of the first immigrants. However, it cannot go unsaid that no European immigrant was the first to settle in the North. The American continent, centuries before Christopher Columbus or Leif Erikson stepped foot in North America, indigenous tribes such as the Lithic People settled in present-day Ohio about 10,000 years ago.
The history of Native Americans in the United States is gruesome and oftentimes disregarded. The stories that many Native tribes carry with them to honor their ancestors were almost eradicated by greedy and power-hungry individuals who saw themselves as gods. The land that we consider to be the United States of America belongs to the thousands of tribes who inhabited this land long before any “settlers” came and claimed its shores as their own.
The English Puritans were not the only Europeans to claim part of North America as their own. Before the English, the Spanish and French had colonies in the Americas.
Mcconnell Map Co, and James McConnell. Map of North America during the French and Indian Wars of 1689 – 1763
The French claimed most of present-day Canada and territory west of the Appalachian Mountains and Colorado. In contrast, the Spanish claimed the western half of North America and present-day Florida and Cuba. What is important to note, however, is how the Spanish and French treated the indigenous communities within their territories. The Spanish were often exploitative and proselytizing, whereas the French frequently traded with Native Americans for fur and other necessities. As we look toward the newly colonized British colonies, we see slavery as their primary means of production.
Slavery in the Free World
The Transatlantic Slave Trade existed in the Americas before the English settlements and officially ended in 1808, 32 years after American Independence. Slavery did not stop, however, in the United States; it grew, and slave owners were now dependent on “homegrown” slaves to produce the next generation of slave labor. Right up to the Civil War, slave labor was how the South made its money.
The South includes Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Collectively, these 13 states produced two-thirds of the world’s cotton, alongside crops like tobacco and rice. For an agrarian society, slave labor was by far the best option for wealthy white landowners because, for them, free labor was a much better alternative than having to do the work themselves. The North, a hub for manufactured goods, did not use slave labor as frequently or in such high volume as the South. However, they did benefit indirectly from slavery because of the agriculture produced and exported out of the South. Northerners prided themselves on working for a wage.
The Civil War was sparked by the debate on whether or not slavery should be allowed in the United States of America. States like New York and Pennsylvania desired to end slavery in the United States. For the South, that was not an option they were willing to agree to because slaves built the economy, and without slavery, the South would crumble.
Industrial Boom
Post-Civil War, we had seen a substantial uptick in race discrimination among not only Black Americans but also Asian, Irish, Jewish, Italian, and Hispanic immigrants. As we entered the Industrial Revolution, most factory workers and hard laborers were immigrants from primarily Europe and Asia, trying to escape wars. Asian immigrants worked mainly on the West Coast, building the Pacific Railroad and in shipyards along the coast. European immigrants worked in industrial fields such as meatpacking facilities in Chicago and steel mills in Pennsylvania. For immigrants, these jobs were crucial yet dangerous, and oftentimes, they could not afford the necessities.
These labor-intensive jobs were seen as bottom-of-the-barrel jobs that no white-bred American deserved. Industrialist men believed they were in control and subsequently owned and operated many industries that boomed during the Industrial Revolution. A prime example is Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie had a chokehold on the steel industry in the United States of America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These types of monopolies allowed for zero regulations, and the ones who suffered the most worked the hardest.
A decade earlier, Asian immigrants were building America’s gateway to the West: the railroad. Union Pacific Railroad monopolized the idea of Manifest Destiny and built tracks out west. These Asian immigrants worked for little to nothing and often in unimaginable conditions.
Chinese laborers on handcart, during the constriction of the Central Pacific Railroad.
Additionally, during the late 19th century, the United States started implementing restrictions on how many immigrants from some regions of the world could enter, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States for ten years. The Exclusion Act continued to be expanded until 1943, when Chinese immigrants could finally enter the United States as citizens. Additionally, during that same time, any Asian immigrant was subjected to harsh interrogations and captivity on the lesser-known immigration island, Angel Island, off the coast of San Francisco.
Angel Island, Hell on Earth
Angel Island was the first stop for Asian immigrants hoping for a chance at the “American Dream”.
Japanese immigrants first arriving on Angel Island.
Angel Island is oftentimes forgotten in American history because it shows the prosperous land of the free as bigoted and racist. Americans often forget that immigrants built every aspect of our modern world, whether the railroad or skyscrapers in New York City. During WWII, Angel Island was turned into an internment camp to keep a “watchful eye” on hardworking Asian immigrants.
New York, New York
During the turn of the century, immigration through Ellis Island was at an all-time high; from 1900 to 1914, around 1,900 people immigrated through Ellis every day. The majority of those immigrating were men, hoping to build a life before the arrival of family members. Additionally, the demographic of Ellis Island immigrants was mainly from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, most commonly from Italy. Once you were processed through Ellis, you were let out onto the streets of New York with the expectation that you could pull yourself up by your bootstraps regardless of your situation.
Many immigrants who had brought with them very little tended to end up in tenement housing, which are like our modern-day hostels but in much worse condition. These temporary housing arrangements were typically decrepit and poorly maintained. The few who could afford a place moved to communities resembling their birth country, such as Little Italy in Lower Manhattan. These blocks, however, were in no better condition than the tenement houses they had just left. Immigration into New York has made it what it is today: a melting pot of cultures, ideals, religions, and people.
Down South
Moving south, we feel as though we still live in the 1800s, and blatant racism exists in everyday life. Members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), founded by Civil War Confederate veterans, terrorized and murdered African Americans. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. led the march for civil liberties. His home was frequently fraught with burning crosses, which was the KKK’s trademark. The 1950s and 1960s of American history can be categorized as the era of turmoil and equality.
For Black Americans, they gained the right to vote in 1870 with the Fifteenth Amendment. The right to vote, however, did not guarantee the right to equality among whites. From the 1880s to the 1960s, legal segregation controlled the everyday norms for African Americans in the United States of America. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced legal segregation, for example, in schools, local water fountains, and bathrooms. African Americans were not the only ones fighting for the right to be equal. In Arizona, a man named Cesar Chavez sparked a movement for agricultural laborers nationwide.
Fighting Racism in Arizona
“Si Se Puede”
Cesar Chavez led the civil rights movement in granting fair pay, good working conditions, union rights, and social justice to agricultural laborers in Arizona and, subsequently, the entire United States. Despite the constant pushback he received, he worked tirelessly to ensure working Americans’ rights to fair pay and good working conditions.
Towards the end of the 20th century, we tend to see a rise in white college-aged students on the streets protesting social injustices. However, we do not see any significant movement again until 2020, when a man by the name of George Floyd is brutally killed by police brutality.
21 Century Racism
Police brutality is nothing new to American culture. However, the senseless killing of George Floyde sparked a movement for accountability.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people went to the streets of every major city in the United States to protest against racial injustices that have been perpetuated since the inception of the United States itself. To live through such a time where the injustice of individuals was palpable is overwhelming to say; I grew up in a very conservative community that tended to exclude rather than include individuals of different races or ethnicities. In America, we are taught that racial injustices ended with the Fifteenth Amendment; however, these injustices will continue to plague our nation until we all accept our privilege and acknowledge that the United States was not founded by men like Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin, but by the thousands of slaves and immigrants who worked tirelessly to build a nation that continues to put them down.
Recent Developments
In light of the recent 2024 Presidential Election and incumbent President Donald Trump’s insensitive and uneducated plan to deport “2-20 million” illegal immigrants, I felt the need to address how problematic this idea is.
Regardless of an immigrant’s documentation status, they are the cornerstone of America’s economy. Without immigrants, we cannot harvest fruits and vegetables or build the infrastructure needed to keep America running. America runs on hard-working immigrants who fight daily to earn enough to feed their families.
Resources
“America at Work: Articles and Essays: America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894-1915: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/america-at-work-and-leisure-1894-to-1915/articles-and-essays/america-at-work/#:~:text=The%20working%20conditions%20in%20factories,and%20monotonous%20work%20for%20employees. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
Cesar Chavez Foundation, chavezfoundation.org/about-cesar-chavez/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
Cornwell, Allen. “Chicago Meatpacking Industry in 1900: Pickled Hands, and More.” Our Great American Heritage, 6 Sept. 2015, www.ourgreatamericanheritage.com/2015/09/disease-death-and-child-labor-the-birth-of-the-meatpacking-industry-in-chicago/.
Dattel, Eugene. “Cotton in a Global Economy: Mississippi (1800-1860).” Cotton in a Global Economy: Mississippi (1800-1860) – 2006-10, Oct. 2006, www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/cotton-in-a-global-economy-mississippi-1800-1860.
“History of Angel Island Immigration Station: Angel Island Immigration Station – San Francisco.” AIISF, www.aiisf.org/history. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
“HUSL Library: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Desegregation.” Desegregation – A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States – HUSL Library at Howard University School of Law, library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/blackrights/desegregation. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
“Overview + History: Ellis Island.” Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, 30 Sept. 2024, www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/overview-history/.
“Tenements ‑ Definition, Housing & New York City.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/immigration/tenements. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
“Timeline of Native American Cultures (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/articles/000/timeline-of-native-american-cultures.htm. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
“The Transcontinental Railroad: History of Railroads and Maps: Articles and Essays: Railroad Maps, 1828-1900: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/railroad-maps-1828-to-1900/articles-and-essays/history-of-railroads-and-maps/the-transcontinental-railroad/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
Donald J. Trump is the poster child for fear-mongering. He uses verbiage that invokes fear in his loyal followers, giving him the support he craves.
It is not just the white evangelical Americans who vote for him, but the CEOs, the High School educated, and even the Hispanic immigrants who fear job instability.
White Evangelicals Idolize Donald Trump
Since the election of Bill Clinton and especially Barack Obama, white evangelicals have feared the end of traditionalist America, focusing on defined gender roles, the traditional American family, and education geared towards the teaching of the Bible, when Trump, a lifelong Democrat entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican, White Evangelicals idolized him immediately. For them, Trump had become the modern-day savior of traditionalism.
When Trump entered the debate stage, Americans waited with bated breath, ready to hear what a businessman had to say about politics. The draw for many Americans was simple: Donald Trump was not a politician, which is how he amassed such a devout following. He would talk about their fears as if they were his own. His 2016 presidential campaign was based on immigration. For many blue-collar workers who feared that illegal immigrants were going to take their jobs, Trump gave those Americans an answer that they understood, and that was to build a wall. Trump’s border wall was not just a physical wall; it was a metaphorical way of foreshadowing his isolationist policies in the future.
His isolation of America continued until the Covid-19 breakout, which no one in politics could have predicted. For Trump, a global pandemic wreaked havoc on his isolated America. COVID exemplified the embroiled racism that Trump supported felt. For them, Covid showed them that isolation was good and integration was bad.
Donald Trump’s response to COVID-19 was delayed, to say the least, Throughout his first presidency he could not listen to constructive criticisms because he too feared failure. Trump used fear throughout his first presidency to control the narrative. When the election of 2020 shocked the MAGA agenda, he once again used his fear to control his followers. As we come up on the fourth anniversary of January 6th, we can see clearly how Trump’s words influenced and incited a mob to attack our nation’s capital. Fear is a catalyst that Trump has utilized and will continue to as his means of controlling the people who follow him.
Fear Controls the Narrative
In more recent times, with the 2024 election, the Trump Train is full steam ahead on fear-mongering. We can see how Trump has moved away from the blue-collar vote, which he still dominates, but more towards the votes of the 1 percent. This time, he ran his platform on the economy and how, under the Biden Administration, he had reached all-time highs around 2021 and 2022. For the regular Americans, higher prices meant their hard-earned money did not go as far. Trump turned this into an opportunity to regain a foothold in America. He vowed to lower grocery prices, which he later admitted in an interview that he could not do; he also stated no tax on tips, which for restaurant workers who typically live below the poverty level seemed to resonate with them.
CEO’s have become Trump henchmen
Trump did announce that his plan for the economy is trickle-down economics. Trickle-down economics means that the top 1 percent of earners in America, aka the CEOs of the world, would get the most tax breaks, while the low and middle classes would bring up the rear with fewer tax cuts. CEOs like Elon Musk, the owner of Telsa and X (formerly known as Twitter), become a puppets for Trump because they fear the repercussions of not supporting Trump and B he is protecting those who become his cash cow. As we have seen, Trump has made the 1 percent part of his campaign and future presidency, most notably Elon Musk’s role in the proposed Department of Government Efficiency. The 1 percent benefits directly from supporting the Trump presidency because they get the tax breaks and the allowance to do frankly whatever they want.
Trump Uses American Ignorance to His Advantage
This is the point in the blog where I quickly become opinionated. Die-hard Trump supports believing whatever comes out of his mouth because it follows exactly what they had already believed. For his support, they live in a world of ignorance, which, for them, allows Trump to remain a savior regardless of his numerous convictions and concerning language. I understand why people voted for Trump; for them, he is the image of unchanging America. For many, his politics reflect a time when they were young. Supporters of Trump believe that rationality is the unchanged. It. can be said that people who do not pursue higher education are more fearful of substantial change because it often leaves them behind, and they have no way of catching up; Trump offers them a utopia of unchanged traditionalism.
After the 2024 election, I cannot say I was shocked because I knew deep down that Americans were not ready for women to be president. It was not Kamala Harris’s policies that killed her presidency. It was simply the internalized misogyny that Americans have. Regardless of its desire to change, America lacks the accountability to accept change. Donald Trump’s re-election is a prime example of this.
What shocked me the most, however, was the percentage of the Latin American vote he received, around 43% of the Latino men’s vote. The only real reason I can see him receiving that much of the Latino vote is because they believe that illegal immigrants are taking jobs that they need, so with Trump’s anti-immigration policies, they feel as though he is protecting the Latino community. However, I find it difficult to believe he is “protecting” legal immigrants when he states that there are roughly 2-20 million illegal immigrants in the United States, which he plans on expunging on his first day in office. It makes me question how he plans on doing this because America has seen this before time and time again when we send groups such as Asian Americans during WWII to internment camps. I can, unfortunately, see American history repeating itself in this case.
Another point I want to make regarding Trump’s immigration policies is his desire to remove US-born citizenship for children of immigrants. I fear this is a terrible and horrific idea that will hopefully never happen and is only just Donald Trump’s wet dream.
Final Thoughts
Trump’s presidencies have been and will continue to be rooted in anti-immigration and isolation. He uses fear as his main way of controlling the masses because Trump has no real traction without fear. No community will support him until the end of the day because they rely on fear to feel connected. Fear keeps his supporters under his watchful control. America will continue to remain unchanged unless we as a collective identify the problem, which has always been fear controlling the masses.
That was a lot! For my first post it may seem a little unorganized but it will improve over time. I want to remind readers that this is an opinion piece, and you do not have to like what I have to say or agree with it. I want a platform to talk freely about my opinions. Additionally, this blog is not dedicated to politics. It is a blog about whatever thoughts and ideas I feel like ranting about.
