2020 was… truly unique. It was so hard to stay away from doom scrolling, and I (and many others) were pretty disillusioned by the sad fact that so much of our country legitimately supported the Orange Man. I didn’t get a wink of sleep the night of the election because I genuinely considered it to be a make or break decision for America.
My point is that looking back on it, in the end the only real difference I made was at the ballet box. This year I’m going for the Head-in-the-Sand approach. I’m done with the political memes. Done with the Twitter screenshots. It just riles me up and this year I’m gonna do my best to fight that.
I’d argue it does matter. For me as a foreigner it matters, because it’s not unlikely Trump will leave NATO. Without NATO, it’s not unlikely that Putin decides to try and grab some Baltic states. The order of the world hangs in the balance and if it tips over, it will get much worse than many of us can even imagine. I’m not confident that Biden can fix anything, but I’m fairly sure the outcome for the Western world will be much worse under Trump.
While there are many other pressing issues about our democracy (from an American perspective), this is the strongest issue I take.
I can’t see things turning out well with Trump as a wartime president, particularly if he just keeps America out of important matters on the world stage (or worse yet, panders and sides with those who seek harm to America and the ‘West’. Let your allies weaken enough/succumb to your ‘enemies’, and it ultimately weakens oneself.