I originally set out to write an article about Trump getting re-elected in 2020, and how millennials were going to be the Washi tape of democracy and force us to stick together just long enough to prevent another four years of You-Know-Who. But every time I tried to write this piece, I found myself writing something else instead. Because, upon further reflection, I realized several things.
Number one: if anything is going to prevent Trump from winning, it is going to be the young vote. I still stand by that.
Number two:the electoral college plays a bigger part in this than I originally thought (more on that at another time).
Number three: if anything is going to work in Trump’s favor in 2020, it’s the work of radicals further dividing this country along traditional political lines.
That third point stood out the most to me. I decided I wanted to write that piece more than anything else. So here I am, trying to find the words to politely explain to my favorite RadFems that drawing a line in the sand with the blood of conservative white men maybe isn’t the answer.
I stand before you as a humble young woman with a bit of a radical streak herself. I hope you understand that my judgment is not reserved for activists, but for those who seek to siege the kingdom by defaming other political views.
Personally, I am unashamed of my politics, and by no means am I advertising a revitalization of the Know-Nothings from the 1850s (who, upon being asked about their political views, would always reply, “I know nothing, I know nothing”). I merely am suggesting that those who wish to define themselves politically should be smart about how they advertise it.
To reiterate, I am in no way encouraging you to hide your identity, but we need to become more aware of when sharing a political view does more to isolate than it does to advocate.
Democracy shouldn’t be a battlefield. Let’s leave the dug-out and meet in the middle for some coffee and conversation. Let’s talk about feminism in the modern world. Let’s talk about keeping a gun in the house. Let’s romanticize the middle space, glorify the conservative who believes in a woman’s right to an abortion and the liberal who believes in always standing for the national anthem.
If we don’t, then we are relinquishing control to a government that no longer seems to provide for all people equally. We will be just another people with another totalitarian government who no longer needs to listen to our screams.
We need to learn to speak up instead of at each other. We can’t afford to settle for a government run by the Have’s. And the only way to make sure we don’t end up with Donald Trump in 2020 is to make sure that we listen to all the voices of our country. That includes immigrants, people of color, and minorities.
(As you might have guessed by now, this isn’t just a piece for RadLibs or RadFems. It’s a piece for anyone who considers their ego to be more important than our world. And that includes conservatives who don’t believe in climate change or Republican men voting on a woman’s right to affordable birth control...but I digress.)
Now back to what I originally intended to write about, way back when. About a month ago, I conducted a set of interviews with millennials from my generation. I asked all of them a series of questions about our generation and about politics.
Here’s what all their responses had in common:
- All of them believed that Donald Trump has a less than 50% chance of winning in 2020, but all were equally ready to note that it might be impossible to tell this early into his presidency.
- All of them believed that at least 70% of their graduating class would pursue a college education after high school (which is notable, given that more than half of Trump’s fanbase seems to be white men without a college education)
- All of them believed that at least 65% of their graduating class would visit the ballot box in 2020 (it’s no shock to anyone anymore that voter turnout matters)
- All of them believed that most millennials tend to be liberal-minded.
If these stats are indicative of anything, we can assume that millennials are not all that pleased with Trump, and only a fraction of them will support his assumed candidacy in 2020. However, one respondent noted that radicalism seems to be dividing millennials, as well. “You can’t really question or disagree with things in this type of demographic,” they wrote. “Saying I don’t believe in more than two genders doesn’t make me a right-wing fascist. And the same goes for the other side: if a conservative were to say that they thought abortion should be legal, that doesn’t mean they’re some liberal ‘special snowflake’ SJW.”
This political division, in my opinion, is what led to a Trump victory in the first place. Both sides of the political spectrum (if we can even call it a spectrum in its current state) seem to only be hearing an echo of each other. If this continues, the influence of the young vote will only be able to do so much good, and we will be stuck with an ineffectual and even harmful government for another four years.
The most important takeaway is this: a house divided cannot stand. We cannot grow apathetic, but we cannot grow so radical that we don’t speak to each other anymore, that our best friend is Twitter and our family is forgotten, that our values can’t be seen through the smog that dwells in the gray space in between us. Advocate an image, but remember to ask yourself this:
What am I putting out into the world? Judgment or justice? Hatred or hope?
