I’ve been reading a lot of posts that say things like, “If Trump wins I’m moving.” And I have to confess that for a little while, Kevin and I thought about joining the masses in making similar plans. We even researched what it would take to move to other locations. There were numerous reasons to stop that research.
The top reason is that it actually takes years to have an immigration visa approved; and you must have skills to offer the other country. “America doesn’t want Syrian refugees. Since you’ve been so kind as to take them for us, would you also take in some American refugees as well?”
Oh really?
On a much more serious note, there are very good, just plain American reasons not to leave, regardless of what happens at our next election.
Many people have valid reasons to stand against Donald Trump’s rhetoric. He speaks hatred toward every minority population in this country: Muslims, Blacks, Hispanic immigrants, women… Who is next? He advocates genocide: “We have to kill their families [families of terrorists].” If you think he is just talking for sport, I beg you to consider the implications if it happens that he isn’t. Those who are talking about moving if he is elected have done just that.
Now I will speak to those who talk about moving. Why, exactly, do you want to move? Is it because you don’t want to associate yourself with a country that is presided over by a man who holds the views that Trump has and enacts policies like the above? Or are you afraid? Or is there some other reason? Have you simply given up on the United States of America as a lost cause?
I ask you to consider the implications if you were to leave. What will become of America if the moderates leave? Does it matter?
But it does. It matters because in a country the size of this, and in a country that relates to others in the ways that America does, balance is essential. Otherwise, the United States becomes the kind of aggressor that we detest. The presence of people who have critical thinking skills in this country is absolutely crucial. We must not be driven by our fears, even when we must acknowledge the presence of those fears.
It is conceivable that we may have to bear, for a time, the leadership of a man whose policies and views bring pain upon this country. We are not alone in this. Others around the world have endured painful leadership throughout history. Some are enduring it presently. We should learn from them about how to cope.
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