It’s been two years since I turned my back on America, that shiny beacon of hope and prosperity where I spent my working life thriving and growing. Returning to my birthplace of Canada. It’s quieter here, away from the heated ideological arguments separating friend from foe. Yes, the taxes are higher, but they pay for important things like free medical care.
Yet, I recognize this refuge is just temporary. None of us can turn our back on America. It’s the most powerful country in the world. Whatever goes on within its vast borders has vast global ramifications.
Tuesday night I went to sleep to avoid seeing the inevitable on a map more red than blue. And waking post-election to the CNN headline – Trump Retakes Power – it was like 2016 all over again. Another woman, this one brown, but like Hilary Clinton, smart and accomplished. From a blue state, a member of the cultural elite.
CNN’s headline carried the not-so-subliminal message that an authoritarian was now in power. And indeed, his campaign was all about power. But he didn’t retake it. Rather, nearly half of the Americans who cast votes gave it to him.
Within an hour, I’d already gone through several emotional states. Disbelief turning to disappointment, then sadness and resignation. Relief I was no longer in the thick of things. Sorrow for those who were. For Ukraine, which would now probably have to give up territory. For Kamala Harris, who fought hard.
The first text I received was from an old boyfriend saying he wanted to move to Canada. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it’s too late. Canada is shutting its borders, no longer welcoming people from around the world with open arms due to the housing crisis.
Besides, with the 10 percent tariffs Trump is proposing, and predictions that the Canadian dollar will fall below 70 cents, and pressure on to increase NATO spending, this country won’t be a safe haven.
I’m not in such an airtight bubble not to realize that for many in the U.S. – indeed a majority – Trump’s election was something to celebrate. Republicans not only won the presidency, but the Senate too. And with the Supreme Court already locked in to a right-wing mandate, it should be smooth sailing for Trump’s policies.
For all the Joe Rogan bros and Latin-Americans who voted for their pocketbooks, and everyone else who views the convicted criminal as the ultimate celebrity president – I hope you understand what you actually voted for.
Authoritarianism. Racism. Sexism. Protectionism. All the “isms” you can imagine, and even some you can't. The next four years will be “interesting.” I think, as I always do during dark times, of W.B. Yeats’ “Second Coming.”
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned
The election of Donald Trump is bad news for protected species and the environment, for climate change, for women seeking reproductive freedom, and for mixed-status families who will be torn apart if mass deportations take place as threatened.
But hey, at least the markets are up, and the U.S. dollar is trading strong.