I’m not an American, but I’m still anxious.
Why I care about the American presidential election, and how I’m dealing with it from the UK.
In the last 10 years, I have aged from a teenager into an adult. Developing mentally through the last 10 years has been a shocking, raw and intense experience.
By my 3rd year of university, the UK was voted to leave the EU and Trump was made president.
Not a single one of my friends could say anything besides ‘How? WHY? What?’ We were in shock that these things could actually happen.
Working in schools, I started to see the cracks in education and how reduced funding and professional politics has a hugely detrimental effect on children’s education and wellbeing.
By 2018, my understanding of politics was that there really is nothing to be understood.
Brexit went into full swing, Theresa May began cracking (only to be taken over by Boris Johnson… sigh), Donald Trump started making world-destroying deals with China, Putin and Boris. People continued to live in dire poverty.
In the meantime, our ‘bosses’ discussed short-term, personal monetary gains in exchange for long-term environment damage.
All of that became too much to process. I switched off.
By 2018/19, I hardly ever checked the news. I would only interact with politics in a very immediate, day-to-day way.
Even then, I saw how austerity effected children and young people. I watched as racist hate and hate crimes became more prevalent in my community and in schools.
I observed as unrestrained social media consumed the lives of our next generations, in the place of closed community spaces and resources that ‘reduced funding’ had stripped from us.
2020 hit me like a huge, swerving truck.
Huge in its sheer amount of awful things. Swerving in its constant uncertainty, that has been felt across humanity all year.
After everything we have been through in the last 10 years, a positive outcome from this election holds a lot of importance to and power over us.
Here’s why I care so much.
Trump = classic villain. Anti-black, anti-women, world-destroying, money-hogging t*sser.
After 8 years of Obama, we were starting to see some real progress in regards to social justice and equal rights for all.
Trump has pulled at loose threads and unravelled almost all of that progress in his 4 years as president. How did we go from the first black president of America and Obamacare to increased police brutality and over 230,000 US deaths related to the pandemic?
I can’t even start to respond because the answer is clear.
I care because I care about all people and about the world. Allowing Trump and his people to continue is selfish and unjust.
We are going through so much. We need some kind of respite. Please.
93% of mental health services are reporting disruption or complete halting of their services.
People have slowly been feeling more and more suicidal as the pandemic goes on.
It is projected that extreme poverty will double in the UK, by Christmas.
We. Need. A. Break.
This election means a lot for people who have struggled in the last 10 years. For me, Biden being elected would be an affirmation that good people can still exist in powerful positions.
The amount of corruption we have seen within governments in the last 10 years (and further back) is only saved by the few, brief periods of respite. These have been provided by good people, who care for others and believe in an equal society.
The NHS is threatened.
I am not a patriotic person. I believe the UK has done a lot to be ashamed of.
However, the NHS is something I think British people should be proud of and grateful for.
This terrifies me.
I am lucky to have never had to worry about needing medication or a doctor’s appointment. I can’t even imagine how hard that is, when you put it on top of everything else we have to deal with.
I am not OK with losing any more parts of the NHS to money-hungry people in power.
The BBC is filled with news about the election and it has completely overshadowed the pandemic.
The pandemic, in turn, has completely overshadowed Brexit too.
While I really want to know the outcome of the election, England isjust entering into a national lockdown and Wales is just about to come out of one. We are all worried about the future, but immediate and life-threatening decisions are being made here, in the UK.
How are we (in Wales) exitting the lockdown? Has our lockdown actually helped us? Why is England now going into lockdown? Has it really gotten that bad?
I feel like we would know and be talking about these topics if we weren’t currently overshadowed by the US elections. Obviously, this is a short-term issue, but it is still anxiety inducing.
How I’m dealing with this all:
- Repeating ‘good people exist’ to myself every 10 minutes
It’s really, really hard to remember this sometimes, but we do exist. We do want to help and we do have influence within our communities. - We adapt and grow because we have to.
Governments have been throwing sh*te at us from the beginning of time it seems. But, each time, we learn to grow and adapt to the situation. It might not be ideal or easy, but good people find a way to keep working away and supporting their communities. - Children will still need my help.
This is selfish. I need a purpose in life - a force driving me forward and making me feel I contribute to others’ in a positive way. If children are going to be royally messed up by our governments, I still need to be there to help them. Whatever the outcome of the presidential election, I will still be going into schools and spending my life supporting children. - Holding loved ones close.
In the last few days, I have felt the impacts of the Welsh firebreak lockdown more intensely. I’ve not wanted to be alone, and have been subsequently spending more time with my partner. In a time where I can’t see my friends and family, and I don’t know what the future holds, I am clutching to the closest form of stability and love in my life.
Finally, if you are an American reading this…
I’m sorry. We were where you are too, crying over the government leaving the EU and shouting about Boris Johnson becoming PM. We don’t know what it’s like to be American or to be governed by Trump, but we can take a guess.
Whatever the outcome of the election, good people are out there.
