THE NUMBER ONE RULE OF THIS THREAD IS TO KEEP IT CIVIL

That means no personal insults, no trolling and no baseless accusations.
However many people, including me, have strong feelings on this subject--but I think that this is community where we can have this conversation a be civil.

Edit: This thread is now dedicated to discussion of current events, but specifically related to American politics.




I am hugely opposed to Donald Trump. He is accumulating power and followers by attacking immigrants, minority religions, women, the disabled, other nationalities. I see his language as breeding hate and discord. To me, he represents a fundamental threat to everything I believe. Even more frightening, he is running on a platform that explicitly targets people like me (politically active, involved in the media, and a member of several marginalized groups) and the people I care about (some of whom are Mexicans, some of whom are Muslims, etc.) If Trump became president and followed through on even a handful of his threats the immediate victims of those policies would include me, my family and my friends. So, yes, I am extremely opposed to Donald Trump.

But I am also hugely disturbed by the fact that this election has devolved to such a point where we can't even seem to discuss our political differences anymore. It's sad. And it's dangerous. Civil dialogue is a necessary part of a healthy democracy.

So that's what I think, but I want to know what you think. Do you support Donald Trump? If so, please tell me why because I honestly don't get it and I really, really, really want to understand. I promise to listen with respect and an open mind and I promise to give a thoughtful response, and I hope you will do the same.

I hate Trump so much that I can hardly stand it. He's ignorant, sexist, racist, selfish, bad with money, hypocritical, and completely unqualified for just about any position - let alone president of an entire country. The fact that so many people support him is genuinely horrifying, concerning, and mind boggling.

I don't like him. He is scary! Rude and arrogant.
I hear a lot of people saying if he wins they are moving to Canada.

Bunnei wrote:I don't like him. He is scary! Rude and arrogant.
I hear a lot of people saying if he wins they are moving to Canada.

Oh man! What drives me nuts about the Move To Canada thing is the fact that most people have NO IDEA how hard it is to immigrate to a new country! Without a job, an immediate family member or some kind of special circumstance it's almost impossible to immigrate to Canada legally. So many people seem to think that as Americans they can just drive across the border and settle down--never realizing that in that scenario they would be the undocumented immigrants.
Irony.

In my opinion, one of the greatest dangers of the Trump phenomena is that so many people seem to think he's joking. I've heard people say, well, he won't really deport 11 million people and he won't really ban all Muslims that's just talk.

My question is, how is that any better? Either he means the things he says, in which case he is so driven by fear and hate that he is willing to inflict heinous suffering just to satisfy his urges. On the other hand, if he's joking it means he cares so little for the dignity of his victims that the idea of treating them as if they were sub-human is legitimately funny.

I don't think it's either--I'm honestly not convinced he's entirely aware of what he's saying. I think he has some kind of unquenchable psychological need for attention. I think he's completely addicted to the adulation from his crowd and that, like any addict, he will say whatever he has to say in order to get his next fix.

Can you imagine what that would look like in the White House? On second thought, don't imagine that. It's too scary.

It it's any consolation, Trump can't actually legally do many of the things that he claims he will do. As in it is beyond the capacity of the Executive branch to implement these measures by itself. For example, if one wanted to, say, deport all "illegal" immigrants, that would require such a massive increase in personnel and funding to ICE/related agencies that it would be physically impossible for him to manage it without passing increased budgetary measures through Congress. Sure, you could say you're changing it, but you couldn't actually do it because you lacked the material means and enforcement capacity. Not to mention the administrative law changes that would need to pass through the system for most of his "plans" to move forwards...admin law is a giant morass of impossibility that people study for years to learn to navigate. Sometimes the labyrinthine structure of the federal government works to our benefit.

That caveat aside, it would be hugely detrimental to the county's foreign relations to have Trump as President. I feel like the very notion that he could be one of the two main candidates is pathetic. It makes us a laughingstock to the rest of the world--is this the best we have to offer? Really? An ignorant, blustering jerk? This is the most intelligent and capable person America is capable of producing?

Talk about American anti-intellectualism at its apex.

I'm very privileged--I work/study/exist mostly in humanities academia, so the people I'm exposed to daily are very much aware of various forms of discrimination and most of these people also actively work to counter them. The more I hear about the "outside" and the way that most of the world is, though...I really want to never go and experience it, nowadays.