Trump Reaction

Originally, I was going to post an article with my thoughts about nationalism and politics in general, but it had the same tone as usual and people would simply be like “there he goes again talking shit/crazy” so I figured I would rewrite it. I wrote it days ago, before the US Election (I can show you a timestamp when I publish it in case you are really that skeptical) and it was focused on a broad and general criticism about society in general. But right now I suppose I will simply tell you my thoughts and feelings about the Trump election since apparently that’s all the rage.
For what it’s worth, I suppose my opinion on the matter should be at least somewhat interesting to people for two reasons:
1) As someone who only holds a Mexican passport but whose family and closest friends live in the US, I am very much directly affected by this and that’s why people jokingly ask if I’ll be allowed back in.
2) I have at least taken the time to think about this for a day rather than jumping on the “immediate reaction to doomsday” bandwagon.

So, what is my opinion about Trump being elected president of the US?
Well, I couldn’t give less of a shit, to be honest.

“Omg what? But this is so important! Politics is so important! The US President is the most powerful man in the world! You’re so naive/stupid not to care!”
Yeah, yeah, spare me all your ‘educated’, ‘sophisticated’ and ‘real world’ opinions about how the world actually works. I’ve been arguing about this for years and every time I get to say “I told you so”, people only come up with a new argument to make. Well, believe it or not, I’m done with arguing with my friends (ok, sort of, because we all know that’s gonna take a while to change). If you really want to know why I don’t care, then I am going to tell you exactly why. If you want to know why I hate politics and don’t even want the right to vote, then maybe you’ll be able to see why after this post. If you want to know how the real world and people actually work, then I’m going to show you how all of that works, and to prove it, I’m simply going to tell you a little bit about my observations over the last two years.

Background

**sigh** Where do I even begin? I don’t really want to go too much into the way that politics has indeed directly affected my life (which is why you probably won’t ‘teach’ me much about “the importance of politics” that I haven’t already experienced and tried to understand). I suppose it is important to mention it for those who don’t know, so I’ll simply rip the “greatest hits” summary from the other post that I drafted:

• After May 2013, I had to bust my ass to find a job within 90 days [before becoming illegal] and somehow convince them to pay extra money and file extra paperwork just to hire me. I ended up having to stroll into the office of the Co-Founder of a company in order to re-gain a job offer that paid $60,000/year (which translates to roughly $109,000 if you live in New York or €54,700 if you’re in Europe). This job included health insurance, gym memberships, and all the things you could ask for, including a million-dollar Christmas Party.
• Then, while having to work 40hrs/week, I had to figure out how to get a visa for this job by reading loads of legal documents and spending hundreds on a lawyer, only to find out that I had already researched all the options that he had for me (one of which included the ‘hope’ that I or a family member had been victims of a violent crime). In the end I lost the job based on performance… conveniently after my company and I discovered that there was no visa that would allow me to keep the job after a year.
• Finally, I had to do unpaid volunteer work just to remain legal in the country while I figured out what else to do. In the end, I decided to leave the U.S. partly because the system is massively flawed, but mostly because the culture is simply not for me and I was planning on eventually leaving anyway.
• And juuuuusssttt for good measure, while all of this was happening, I had to practically tell my dad “it’s cool, dad. I know your dad just died and you weren’t allowed to visit him for 7 years, nor can you go to the funeral, but that’s just how life is so toughen up”. I also had the golden opportunity to hit it off with a girl immediately, only to have her disappear cold-turkey one day because “I don’t want to put so much into something I know will end in months“. Granted, I fucked shit up massively by being a bit clingy but we had both decided it was cool to go all out “Notebook-style” and I legitimately had nothing else to hold on to or spend my time on (i.e. I had nothing to lose but her… and in the end I did, lol).

Why?

But that’s all in the past and there’s very little about it that truly gets to me anymore. The reason we, or at least I, are here today is to talk about why I don’t really care about whatever his name is being elected US President. You would think that after all ^that^ bullshit I would be the first in line to want to take action and try to make a change, and you’d be right to a certain extent but that’s why I am glad I always sit here and try to observe or learn about human nature so much.

Right now, a lot of people think the world is going down the drain and a lot of people feel like there’s no hope for humanity because global warming is fucked, the economy is fucked, and even the governments that could be used to fix it are fucked. It is especially us, the younger generation, that feel like the world has reached its expiration date because election after election and referendum after referendum, the young and educated vote for one thing and we get outvoted by the old and uneducated. What’s the point of voting for “the future” if the ones who get to be part of it are outnumbered by those who, no offense, have half a foot in the grave? What’s the point of giving the same credibility to those who “know” and those who “don’t know”? Well, I’m no genius or no prophet, but if I had to guess why, then I would simply say the same shit everyone tells me “that’s the way the world works.”

But of course you know the first thing I am going to do is ask “why?” Why do we let the old outnumber the young and tell us what’s best for our future? Why do we give the same voice to the non-educated as to the educated? Why do rural areas who don’t deal with mass migration get to dictate the level of migration that cities experience? Well, I hope you can see the problem already. Either we are all in this together or we are not. We either listen to everyone or listen only to ourselves. Ultimately, we are either all equal or we are not. So I would say that’s precisely the problem. We all want to be united but we also want to be unique. We want to listen to people but we also want to listen to our gut. We want to be equal but not so equal because then… well, who are we? Who am I? Believe me, I would love to bore you with the philosophical bullshit to prove to you that it’s not just rhetoric inside my head, but I’d lose you in a heartbeat because I’m the only one who enjoys thinking, overthinking and rethinking through massive amounts of bullshit all day every day. So let’s go back to and stick with the simple “why?” so that we can have an answer and get out of this stupid rabbit hole… Why is this the way the world works?

Of course I can only speak for myself and tell you what I think and why I think it. But I hope you can follow the very tiny but fundamental pause that I am making when I tell you that this is precisely the problem. Let me slow it down and break it down so I can write it down step by step:

“Why is this the way the world works?”
Well, I think/believe…

Of course you do. And so do I. So at the end of the day who is right? How do we prove it? Well, you can claim this person said this and that person said that and in the end each of us has referenced our own experts and each of us has his/her own army/party/democraticMajority to prove that I am right and you are wrong. So what is the fucking point of me telling you what I think about how the world works? What is the point of me telling you “nationalism and politics are stupid” and then have the golden opportunity to say “I told you so” when starts hitting the fan for both of us?Even when the world goes to shit, you and I are only going to find some tiny detail where you/I was or could have been right and then we’ll argue about that. So let’s just get real: You have a why, I have a why, and we all have a why for each an every opinion and apparently the only way to prove that I/you/we am/are right is by having an army behind our back that says the same thing (but perhaps not for the same reason, ironically). The bigger the crowd/army, the more I have a ‘right’ to be right and demand rights because hey, if you don’t like it then I/we can force you to accept it or get rid of you altogether and that’s that.

So why is this the way the world works? Why are noneducated = educated, city = rural, and old = young? Well, because “we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” that’s why. And yet the irony is that the same person who is largely attributed for writing that into the Declaration (Thomas Jefferson) also said “There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.” Welp, there you go then. I guess everyone is equal and not equal. Go figure. I can tell you that I’ve driven myself nuts thinking about this and other contradictions and I think I have a simple/complicated answer, but what’s the point? In the end I’m just gonna prove that I’m the crazy one (since I even admitted to driving myself nuts) and there’s no reason to listen to crazy, stupid or ignorant people. So the reason why the world works this way is because in order to “be fair” we have to treat ‘everyone’ equally no matter what they do or don’t know or what their reason for wanting/doing something is. But then everyone still gets to do as they wish and make excuses for it by blaming others. You want my most blunt and “objective” answer to why the world works this way? Because it doesn’t fucking know why and it’s “too fucking busy” to figure it out, that’s why. Why did people vote for Trump or Hillary if they’re both shitty? Why didn’t they vote whatsoever? Why did they vote for another? Why do only two parties have a chance? Why are there two parties anyway instead of one if it’s true that “we, America” are all in this together? Why does all America have to be united and do/want the same things in the first place? Why is… why does… why, why, why…
“Ugh, fuck it, just take my vote and get it over with so I can move on with my life.“

And there you go. That’s the way the world works. The environment is fucked, the economies are fucked, the governments are fucked and every nation, region or individual is so torn that they just say “fuck it, let someone else solve it. I got better shit to do with my life and it’s not my problem because I have other problems. I’ll just do my part and sign this piece of paper or click this button to make my voice heard.” I’m not gonna break down everything that is ‘wrong’ (naive/ignorant) with that statement because then you’re really not going to like me. But I can promise you that this is precisely how people function, especially those who are “big” on “politics and democracy” which somehow stand for justice and equality, I guess. You feel like you do your part by asking someone else to take care of the world’s problems and they claim to do their part by taking your resources and doing as they wish because “the people have spoken and I am their voice”. Well, I don’t, so no thank you. I think before I speak, and I’m sure as hell not going to let someone speak for me when clearly people don’t even know what the hell I’m talking about half the time (though I promise I do know what I’m thinking). And that’s also the issue: right now we’re just talking about talking, when are we actually going to do something about the environment, the economy, the government or humanity in general?

So there you have it. In case you didn’t notice it, I structured this damn thing so that you could easily tell when I was going deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. Before I could answer why I don’t care about Trump, I had to explain why “I don’t care” translates into apathy, which led me into human nature. Then I went into how the world works, asked why, got a typical “Ed answer” and decided to work my way back before I got lost in the freaking Matrix. And the conclusion that I came out with was: it’s all talk. We’re all talk and no game so we make the game about talking rather than about doing, that way we get to bitch and whine when people don’t listen, but when people ask us to do something we get to say “I did! I voted!” Again, I can only reach my own conclusions and surely you can come up with your own, but it’s a huge irony that everyone feels so insignificant and powerless while we also pretend that the most powerful people are the “voice of the people”. So we loooove democracy and we loooove politics because at the end of the day, we get to say “let’s go Obama/Trump/Hillary, chop chop! You gotz shit to do for us!” Well, I repeat and I re-emphasize: how can we act like one person is so measly and insignificant (“myself”) and then pretend that we need to form a full nation and democracy that lets us choose one guy or girl to fix it all? So let me get that straight: we go from the one to the many to the one, is that it? Well, no offense, but please do us all a favor and get the fuck outta here with that nonsense.

**sigh** I can tell that my tone is starting to pick up and get aggressive again. Sorry about that. I just gotta release one last one and say: excuse my French but that is why I don’t give a flying fuck about Trump or Obama or whoever the President of the alleged “most powerful nation on Earth” is. If s/he were so powerful, then why the hell couldn’t Obama get past his own Congress for 8 years to get the “real” things done? Why did the “most powerful nation on Earth” only create more problems than it solved over the past decade or so? Why does everyone pretend that the representatives have the power when their [supposed] power comes from representation? Yeah, well, call me crazy but maybe the issue is precisely about power, or rather, the perception of power. So I don’t break a sweat about Trump because that man has literally zero power over me or my decisions. He doesn’t represent me, my opinions, my ideals, my family, my friends… he seriously has nothing to do with me so he couldn’t possibly represent me. And neither does the passport that I never chose or the nationality that someone claims to represent me so good luck building a wall against “me” or “my people”. If he says anything racist, sexist, misogynist, elitist, populist or white-supremacist I’m still going to say “cool story bro, you’re still a fucking idiot and I’m sorry we can’t change that for you” regardless of his status or position. If he tries to get me to do anything racist, sexist, white-supremacist, etc, etc, I’m still going to be like “nope”, laugh in his face and walk the other way like I would to anyone else (actually, we all know I’d question him to death until he says “fuck it, nevermind” lol). The point is simply that there is simply no president, country, law, god or universe that can make me turn against my fellow people, so regardless of how these elections, referendums, or votes keep turning out, then no one is going to force me to say or do anything immoral. And at the end of the day if they choose to get rid of me because I’m such a damn threat to them simply because I’m not a pawn, well, problem solved for everyone I guess, but people have died for worse and at least we can say I was never coerced into doing stupid shit. But people are not actually that evil, and others can and will turn against them if they do this immoral shit openly. (And for those of you who claim to be experts about the only thing I spend my time on, well you can call me naive all you want and go bask in your expertise).

Conclusion

Anyway, let’s not open up so many and so such massive cans of worms all at once. Right now the only point I wanted to make was that I seriously have better shit to do than stress out about the politics that everyone pretends to be stressing out about. Let’s face it, soon enough you will also not care one bit about any stupid election or referendum because that’s how we, people, are: short memory and move on. I know this because, well, scroll back up to the “Background” section and tell me I haven’t been through my share of crap (as we all have). So the reason I went on that whole rant on Facebook after Trump won, and the reason why I “attacked” so many of you, especially the “politically-oriented” among you, is because once again I had a crazy little idea. This idea took me all the way to making a phone call to the President of the European Court of Justice for twelve minutes and seven seconds. I was so eager to get an answer to my stupid idea that I pestered and alienated my thesis advisor, the professor of EU law at our Academy, and a contact I have at the UN (go ahead and ask them if you wish, I’ll give you the names if you don’t know them). And in the end none of them were willing or able to “help a brother out” to get an answer so I figured “fuck it, I’ll go straight to the source.” But do you want to know what Lenaerts (ECJ President) said to me? “We here have to make a very good and explicit job of separating judicial matters from political matters, so I can’t comment on that.” So the answer to my question was that there isn’t a judicial answer because it’s political question. Greeaaaaatt. And the more I read, the more it looks like maybe, juuuuust maybe it could work to ‘fix’ Brexit and perhaps even evolve into something more useful for other people. But as the good old story of Ed goes: I legally don’t even have the right to ask the question. And the more I reach out to people, the more I find out that people are “too busy” to listen. And yet the more I listen to people, the more they go on and on about “how screwed the world is” and the “importance of politics”. Ok then, I’m going to give you a chance to prove yourself and put your money where your mouth is, especially if you really like to share your political beliefs and consider those things important. I’m gonna let you read about the main idea that I’ve spent most of my time investigating since March and that I’ve been brewing for about a decade. I’m gonna give you a chance to decide if you really do care enough about politics to try and make a difference, or if you simply like to talk and vote in order to claim you do and “make your voice heard”. Sorry again that I’m getting all confrontational, but I’ve tried not to care about all this politics stuff and I’ve tried to say “let’s move on with our lives and have some beers together because all that nonsense is not important.” But all I get is politics, politics, politics. Ok then, let’s politics.

I’m flying back to Kansas on Sunday. I’m posting this so that I will commit to looking more and more into this idea before I share it (as if I hadn’t already). Of course I wouldn’t ask my friends to do anything I wouldn’t do, but I legally can’t even sign the thing so I will continue researching and at the very least you’ll get the story of how I reached a roadblock. Then we all get to call me an idealistic idiot, laugh, and move on while we have a few drinks at my expense (well, at my ego’s expense because I’m still broke and can’t buy them for you). But if there’s a chance that it works, then there’s a very tiny window of opportunity and we’re already running out of time. So I guess I’ll do the work and let others take action and get the credit if it works out. I’m not trying to be a freaking hero or anything, but I do believe that “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” and right now I just think people need to chill and get over themselves and their fucking ‘politics’ so we can all get some actual shit done together, assuming anything needs/wants to be done (p.s. there’s no record that it was Gandhi who said that quote about being change). Again, I fucking abhor politics and all that bullshit but if we’re all going to be “political” and try to push our opinions on others because “I know what’s wrong with the world and how to fix it”, and if everyone is gonna try to outdo each other with the wildest and dumbest political idea that they can come up with (from Brexit to Trump), well then I hope all of my friends in the EU, US or Mexico will recognize the anthem of “our people” when I say:
Hold my fucking beer and watch this, I’ve got something stupider that I wanna try out. #yolo