/ San Francisco /

2016 Elections

I felt compelled to write something about this. I woke up this morning to a world in which Donald Trump is elected President. I woke up to a world moving in the opposite direction to the one I'm heading. I woke up crying. First came the cold, almost numb feeling. Then came the disbelief. Now I feel determined. The US I see outside my window today is not the US I saw yesterday. The US outside my window today is a Market Street without the loud, bustling traffic. It's lonely people walking the straight streets of San Francisco. It's people crying in public. I didn't want to leave my room today. I didn't want to realize that my biggest nightmare is in fact reality. We all know what Trump has said during his campaign, I need not repeat it, but it does make me scared. I fear for our environment, for peace and for love.
 
Yesterday I stayed up, together with 50 of my classmates, to see the result of this historical election. And indeed it is historical. A man without real credentials will now run a country with 300 million Americans, with nuclear power and with an army in dozens of countries. This man has power now. A man without real credentials. At 8pm when the wind turned, I saw people crying - Americans and non-Americans. It affects us all. I was just dead inside.
 
I don't know what will happen now. No one does. I do know this though: 50% of this country is not giving up, and with that I don't mean giving up the presidential race. They are not giving up fighting for their values and beliefs. At this very moment, thousands of people are on the streets protesting, including here in San Francisco. I just came back from a protest starting as a peaceful candlelight vigil on Castro & Market, and which evolved into a demonstration marching for love and acceptance instead of hate and fear. There are many who are willing to fight, me included. I am scared, but I am also determined. I am determined not to let this man destroy my generation's future - MY future. And so are millions of Americans.
 
However, the right way is through democracy. Trump won through democracy, however flawed it may be. We need to respect a democratic decision - as Clinton said this in her concession speech this morning. We NEED to respect democracy. He was elected. That is that. It does not mean we have to stand by any future decisions, but it means that we have to accept that he is now the President of the United States of America. What is now important is that we wake up everyday, wherever we may be, and fight for what is right. And that fight will be through democracy and peace. Love DOES trump hate.
 
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Detta är också en väckarklocka för Sverige. Hur vill vi att Sverige ska se ut i Oktober 2018? Vi behöver titta på vad som har hänt i USA, England och vad som är på väg att hända på många fler ställen på vår jord, och inse att vi måste ta Sverigedemokraterna på allvar. Efter att ha bevittnat ett närmast kliniskt rent och rakt snitt dras genom den amerikanska befolkningen måste vi nu inse att rädslan som föder populism är verklig och behöver tas tag i på andra sätt än genom förlöjligande och förnekelse. Hur vill vi att Sverige ska se ut om 2 år? Det är upp till oss. Låt inte media manipulera vad du står för. Börja redan nu att jobba för vad du vill se då. Sverigedemokraterna är verkliga liksom deras grogrund. Erkänn att det finns där så är vi halvvägs där.
 
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Pictures from today's demonstration. Vi conquered Market, Castro and Mission.
 
 
 
 
#1 / / Anonym:

Bra skrivet, Klara! Jag tror på din generation - smarta och med hjärtat på rätt dtälke! /y