A friend shared this blog post from a Republican college student, who wrote about what it is like to be a Republican college student.
I have reminded my liberal friends of the mistake of dismissing Trump supporters simply as racists (I will be writing more about this when I come up for air from all the stuff going on). The author here is right in reminding everyone of this.
I don’t think Ms. Hewlett is racist. This doesn’t mean she isn’t a little naive.
This paragraph stands out (emphases mine):
Well, I was not sad. While I understand that many people found the result disheartening, I am happy that the Republican party is in office for the next four years. I am happy that trade and markets will once again be free. I am happy that jobs will be brought back into the United States. I am happy that small business owners will finally be able to reap the benefits of hard work and dedication. I am happy that I voted in my first presidential election as a Republican.
Let’s take these one by one.
I am happy that the Republican party is in office for the next four years.
You mean six years of Republican Congressional obstructionism wasn’t enough for you? Running a do-nothing House and Senate? And why do you suppose a Trump presidency headed by a guy who ran against the Republican party establishment will mean smooth sailing for the Republican party?
I am happy that trade and markets will once again be free.
Repeat after me: there is no such thing as a free market. There is no such thing as a free market. It’s a myth. Everyone games the system somehow. Everyone stacks the deck against everyone else. Even if this weren’t the case, trade agreements, treaties and the like don’t get undone overnight. I recall with amusement how Obama was going to change Washington. Didn’t happen then and it won’t happen now.
I am happy that jobs will be brought back into the United States.
It’s a nice dream, isn’t it? Not a chance of it ever happening. As Bruce Springsteen sang in “My Hometown,” those jobs are going, boys, and they ain’t coming back. America competes with the world now. As long as companies have unfettered access to move their factories to any shithole country having no environmental or labor protections this is how it’s going to be.
I am happy that small business owners will finally be able to reap the benefits of hard work and dedication.
Business owners have always been able to reap the benefits of their hard work. Own a business? Good for you. You probably work hard and deserve to feel proud. But don’t forget the people and policies that helped make you successful. Society expects you to pay it forward. Do you love your country enough to invest in it?
Overall, I’ll cut Ms. Hewlett some slack. She’s young and new to how the world really works. Celebrate your victory, Ms. Hewlett, but don’t be too disappointed when things don’t turn out the way you expect them too.
I am not racist. I am not homophobic. I am not sexist. I am not a misogynist. I am for free market. I am for stronger foreign policy. I am for small business. I am for my family. I am Republican.
With the results of the presidential election stirring up a vast amount of emotions, I think it is important to clarify something: just because I am Republican does not mean I am heartless. The point of this is not to debate political policies. It is to highlight what it felt like to be a Republican college student the day after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.
Source: I am. – Cassie Hewlett