Everyone says that you have a voice in the political system of the United States. Everyone has a vote, everyone has an opinion, and everyone has a say of who their next president will be. The 2016 Presidential election has shown me quite the opposite though. This isn't because the electoral college chose Trump over Hillary, although the popular vote supported Hillary. This is because every time somebody states their political opinion, no matter how violent, rude, polite, simple, complex, etc. it is, people become bashed for simply having that specific opinion.

Families are being torn apart because of the election, friends are threatening each other, and people are blaming those who voted or didn't vote. If somebody voted third party, they are bashed for not voting Hillary or Trump. If somebody doesn't respect Trump as our newly elected president, they are threatened or attacked for not supporting our new "Commander in Chief". If somebody hated Hillary, they are hit with reasons to hate Trump instead. No matter what opinion you have, whether you voted, whether you didn't vote, whether you didn't support either president, or a third party, you will be hit with some sort of aggressive, rude response as to why your political opinion isn't the correct one.

This election alone has destroyed my opinion of this country and the citizens who make it up. I once believed that there were strongly opinionated people in both parties, and everyone would respect those opinions as it is their right as an American to express them. I was wrong, very wrong. A country that was built on the foundation of unity has become split by something that should be bringing people together. The lack of respect has left me without a voice in this election simply because you will never be right. You can no longer state who you support or don't support without being threatened, and that has shown that America is passing these traits on to younger generations. This isn't about safe spaces, or being too sensitive, it's about simply being respected as an American citizen of the United States.