Make America Flee Again?

It’s been a couple of days since the election. If you haven’t heard already, Trump won the presidential election in the U.S. I won’t get into politics too much. I wanted to discuss tonight what I’m seeing in reaction to the election results. I just went onto Facebook wherein I saw multiple people talking about either leaving the United States, having left and never coming back, or a variation of the like. I saw a lot of this the first time Trump was elected, back in 2016.

Don’t get me wrong. The first time that Trump was elected into office, I wanted to flee the country as well. I wished quite a bit that I could just leave and go live somewhere a little less toxic and complicated. From the news to the conversations on the street, that man is inescapable. And that’s not a compliment.

I don’t want to get side-tracked too much, I don’t want to give him any more publicity than he already has, so I will get straight to the point. After I got down to thinking about the situation, who I am, and what my ideals are. One of the things that I decided is if I am going to consider myself an American and be proud of it, one of the qualifications would be that I wouldn’t just up and abandon the country.

Now, I’m not saying that everybody who disagrees with the outcome of the election is charged with a responsibility to do something about it. But, one has to admit that leaving the country for a 4-year presidential term is kind of extreme. If someone could explain in the comments why people feel the need to leave instead of taking charge and fixing the issue. How do we fix this issue? Well, that answer is a bit complicated, but it’s not impossible.

You know, if our country was a person… every time someone ex-patted, our country would lose some confidence. After two Trump presidencies, I’m probably safe in assuming our country has self-esteem issues at this point.

Part of me wonders if perhaps, as a country, we don’t need those people. If they’re willing to leave when the going gets tough, then they aren’t of much value. I mean, if you get critical about their choice to leave, you can almost compare it to that of a grade-schooler temper tantrum. They can’t get their way, so they’re just going to leave. No compromises.

The United States of America, while not a full-fledged democracy, does have some democratic characteristics to it. Excuse me if I’m wrong on this, but isn’t part of living in a democracy about making concessions? I understand that there are some very serious topics on the table. But, if these people were really as concerned about it as their ‘moving out of the country’ would elicit, then why didn’t they put in the legwork prior to the election? Why weren’t they calling around campaigning for the other side?

I don’t know. Maybe they were. But it smells awfully similar to those people who are “pro-life” but never seem to have any adopted children. They’re only pro-life when it’s your decision. People can change, evolve, and adapt as they learn more. But if you’re going to stick to your guns on a topic like this, then why not have the full follow through?

Patriotism doesn’t mean supporting a perfect country. It means supporting your country with the intent of perfection. As I posted previously, patriotism doesn’t mean that you follow your country blindly, no. This situation is no different. Staying within the US doesn’t mean compliance. Staying within the US means that you give yourself another opportunity to take part in our country.

It’s almost 3 am. I think that I made the point that I originally intended to make with this post. I should probably try to get some sleep. In the meantime, share your thoughts on the topic. I’m really interested in hearing the perspectives of others.

Take care.