Turning Back Time

Today, my great American experiment ended. As I start to process the enormity of the election result, I’m almost paralyzed by this sense of dejection. The country I have grown to love has been abruptly spoilt; reflected in a harsh and ugly, unforgiving light.

America, we see you now. 

You are not ‘united’. You are the Polarized States of America. You have climbed over your neighbor in your pursuit of wealth. Your greed is endless as you help millionaires become billionaires while stepping over the homeless; ignoring families sleeping in their cars with no access to medical care or welfare. You’ve allowed drug companies to destroy communities from within. Forget the cartel and drugs at the borders; what the opioid crisis says about the American pursuit of greed is everything.

Social media has fed streams of soundbites that are inflammatory and unchecked for both sides. Gen Z, the generation that will bear the weight of this greed, has drank from the CoolAid and worships at the feet of testosterone raged bros: the Musks, the Rogans, The Trumps. The generation that demanded attention to their pronouns is now comfortable to embrace Project 2025.

I was educated in an all girls’ school in the UK in the 80’s. We thought we were progressive with our shoulder pads and power suits as we boldly entered the workplace to find our place in a ‘man’s world’. Nearly four decades later, that vision of equality feels laughable as there is only one gender allowed to wear the power suits. To be sitting in my home in a country that is about to turn back the clock on women’s rights while protecting gun ownership feels deeply uncomfortable. To recognize many Americans are not just witnessing, but condoning this movement is frightening. 

America is not willing to address global warming for it disrupts the flow of Now; the dopamine hits of daily Amazon deliveries from the click of a keyboard with no conscious thought of where that product is being made; at what cost to the climate. All the country cares is that this throw away culture is uninterrupted by a weakening moral compass that is swinging human kind (forget kind, just humans) ever closer to self destruction. 

America, you have once again chosen your First Family. A group of individuals that embodies your values: of complicity, greed and self promotion at all cost. Look in the mirror and your First Family is smiling right back at you. Your First Family. You chose them. They are the pinnacle that your children will aspire to. The dictionary definition of American greed.

I am not ready to step back and find change from within. I’m not willing to believe that half of the country doesn’t share these values. The wider American landscape allowed this to happen. The process, the campaign and the opposing candidate was flawed but I’m not willing to read the obituaries. No matter these flaws, the other candidate was the best that America had to offer? With the litany of criminal charges, the lies, the racism, the misogyny - HE was the better option to lead the free world?

Congratulations to the USA today. You chose you.