By Hanna Grissel
Many of us tried to usher in a “radical” candidate, in a day and age where anti-neoliberalism is considered radical and corruption is all too commonplace in our political system. Some of us are pushing for a shift in power toward equality in every aspect of life. But with the election nearing, we need tow come to terms with the fact that our ideas will not progress as quickly as we wish they would If we are intending to be ethical “progressives,” we must compromise and vote for the candidate who is most likely to affect policy in manner most in line with our ideology.
We have made it through all the cringe-worthy debates. Debates in which quoting the candidates remarks has proven to be more comical than formulating our own jokes about them. Remember Hillary Clinton giving a plug for Steve Spielberg’s film Lincoln? Or Donald Trump saying, “You can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb” in reference to the Supreme Court’s landmark reproductive-rights decision Roe v. Wade?
In this season of “America: The Great Race to the White House,” we saw impeccable displays of character, to say the least. While at the most, their jokes exemplify the state of this election and present us with parallels to the candidates’ agendas.
Agendas that are as pungent as that overflowing Dumpster outside your apartment complex. I mean Trumpster. Wait, I mean reality-TV star “The Donald.” Why oh why has he been able to come this far? His rise to fame has been riddled with very poor rhetoric, which has been consistently violence-inciting and contradictory.
Yet, there is a lot of evidence affirming his corrupt business practices, lending them to surpass the realm of speculation. From numerous bankruptcies leaving his investors in the mud, while he came out nearly unscathed, to the revelation that since the 1980s, hundreds of contractors and employees have yet to be paid by The Donald. Thanks to a USA Today exposé, these small-business owners and working-class folks have been heard. Sadly though, not by his many supporters who represent this same class.
I figure since his slimy, barely legal, and possibly illegal tax-evasion practices can’t be proven (while we’re all still waiting on those tax returns), many are willing to believe his all denials.
Despite the sincere distrust I have for Clinton, there’s no doubt she will foster more progressive policies than the Trumpster. Though she has aligned herself with oligarchs in the past, she claims her ideology has changed. I don’t believe her, but I’d rather be proven wrong than elect Trump, who is quite literally an oligarch.
Some argue that a vote for Trump will erupt a political revolution, while a vote for Clinton will only continue the neo-fascist globalist agenda. I just can’t bring myself to vote for a man who has behaved so belligerently.
If this season of “America” has reaped anything for the people, it’s a mass disillusion in our understanding of the way in which our country operates. Though taking this position has brought me an indescribable amount of torment, I’m willing to take the loss and the stress that will come with. Pragmatically, a vote for Trump is a vote to cancel the series, while a vote for Clinton might allow us to keep watching “America.”