It's fair to say that the world has gone mad and this year has been a turbulent one. After the UK's Brexit fiasco in June and now the U.S cry for help in the form of Donald Trump, it's clear to see that the status quo has been well and truly rocked. But why? Have the people of the UK and U.S been brainwashed? Or was the status quo in need of being changed for future generations?
Waking up in the light of the 45th U.S Presidential election was a daunting process. Tellingly, the first place I saw the news of the election result was on WhatsApp. Is this Millennials' punishment for our love of technology and our supposed inability to tell the time? This, intolerant, abusive and politically clueless man from the U.S Apprentice? Alan Sugar, I'd back for Prime Minister. He seems like a clued in guy. But this toupee wearing misogynist is not the kind of leader we want to get into the habit of electing. His views are terrifying, his family is terrifying and quite frankly as a Millennial and someone who will have to watch and potentially clear up disasters caused by this man I am entirely terrified.
Millennials are always late, millennials are always on their phones, millennials aren't self-sufficient. Maybe it's true, but we don't deserve the mess that older generations have left us to clean up. With Brexit, the majority of 'leave' voters were older voters. With Trump, all we're sure of is that he won and that it's going to be the younger and more progressive thinking voters who are going to be hit hardest by his right wing attitude.
Trump won the election to become the President of the United States of America. He had the majority of votes in the electoral college. This is what democracy is, this is what our ancestors fought for. So why are so many of us still standing around scratching our heads wondering what the hell has happened?
Past generations have been able and allowed to live a life full of progress and positive change and we have been subjected to leaders and political parties who only want to revert back to the stone age? Trump is a man who has shown himself to be intolerant of gay people, of Muslims and of women. On top of that he has publicly condemned violence and flaunted his wealth as a means of living outside the law. This man is not someone I'd like to sit next to on a bus, never mind have in control of one of the, if not the most powerful country in the world. As the oldest first term President ever at the age of 70, his dated views on women, race and sexual orientation are only going to be detrimental to the rights of protected groups. This man's views are not what the forefathers of America had in mind when they wrote the constitution.
Where does 2016 leave us?
Article 50 is yet to be triggered and Trump will not become President until January 2017. We're waiting for disaster, we're waiting for regression, we're waiting for a hero but it doesn't look like one is coming any time soon. Millennials in the UK and the U.S who are looking for jobs, looking to get on the property ladder and looking to start their lives should be able to, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation or identity. The world should be progressing and improving and becoming more tolerant. Right now we're only going backwards.
Who knows? Maybe Trump will tear up the stereotypes and really Make America Great Again. Maybe Brexit will be the best thing to ever happen to the British economy but at this point, the future looks bleak, for Millennials and everyone else. Here's hoping no one gets on Trump's bad side, toddlers with nuclear weapons cannot be trusted.