Why Donald Trump Won The US Presidential Election

The 2016 US Presidential Election is one of Fear Versus Anger, and Anger won.
 
People are disgruntled, unhappy, and fed up with the status quo. When you're not enjoying the fruits of your labour but some other perceived upper class schmuck is or when the schmuck allows foreign garbage to come by and steal what you felt was yours, you begin placing your bets on the guy in the trench coat leaning by the alleyway promising you anything you want, at a price. "What's there left to lose?" you say to yourself. "It can't bloody get any worse than this. So if I can't have it, fuck you very much, you can't have it too."

Some folks, still reeling from the shock, are scratching their heads. Why does Trump seem immune to scandals while Clinton's secret emails became a big talking point? In fact, the scandal that was supposed to threaten Trump's presidency eligibility just added to his credibility. Not so much as a presidential candidate but as a fellow human being going against the elite blue-blooded Clinton machinery who, like the line of other politicians have a responsibility in presenting themselves with a flawless image. But history has shown that presidents are not infallible.

Then here comes Trump with all his locker room talk, and a badass reputation as one who can't keep his mouth shut to even hold back damning taxation information that almost did him in. By comparison, Trump reflects our inner demons. He voices out the things we think about but seldom say. He represents the Americans who are closet assholes, bigots; the racists mofos, the outspoken ones who had their voices taken from them; the ones who are tired with fairness and equality and of feminist power and racial rights and all the other rights-movement shenanigans.

And if we are honest about it, when push comes to shove, and we are pissed as fuck, there's a voice inside all of us that sounds a little like Donald J. Trump. After all, most if not all of us have our displeasure with certain groups. And in a world where freedom of speech is the name of the game and every group feels that they have equal rights, what you're going to get is a whole nation, or world, full of pissed off people. Trump was there to ignite the fuse at the right time. A whole nation full of Red Foremans dying to put their feet up someone's ass.

So economists tried to warn us that with Trump in power, we are going to see America go back 30 years. That is just further bolstering Trump's campaign slogan – Make America great again. Facts and logic don't matter at this point. Screw world economics. The man on the ground cares where the next food on the table is coming from and, right now, their basic Maslow hierarchy of needs is being threatened. People are voting on emotions. The past is viewed with fond nostalgia. The good old days; a time when you work hard and get rewarded fairly. And if Trump can bring that back then he has the vote.

This election has showed us one thing - just because there are rules, they don't always apply. Every once in a while, someone comes along to prove us wrong and turn everything we know on its head. We are left searching for answers and trying to get answers to questions that we are not prepared to accept.

The one lesson I took away from Trump's triumphant battle to the White House is this - don't be afraid of the higher powers who dictate the rules of engagement, don't let people who think you will fail stop you from trying, don't have to please everyone, don't let your past mistakes embarrass you from growing, and more importantly, don't let reality get in the way of your dreams.

Dreams give us hope. And hope is a costly commodity in short supply.

​Photo Credit: Gage Skidrow