After the American Election

The very last presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was the one that I watched. It left the firm impression that one of them was (however one might disagree with her actions) undeniably endowed with knowledge, wit and seriousness, and without a doubt qualified for office at least in a technical sense. The other, a wealthy dilettante who resorted to humbug where his memory or quickness let him down. Not that Donald Trump is not quick-minded, perceptive, or mentally hardworking; but he is undoubtedly accustomed to using these qualities to different ends than to framing and executing public policy that is supposed to affect and to serve persons who are neither his self nor related to his self.

So I was surprised to wake up this morning (at 6:45 a.m.), and to see as the headline on the Guardian's website that Donald Trump is going to become the next President. I had expected to see that Hillary Clinton won, and then go back to sleep. Instead I tried to go to sleep, sniffling even though it felt like an impotent and weak thing to do, and finding after a while that the hand that was tucked under my cheek had tears all over it. Then I just stayed awake, reading a little election coverage now and then, and exchanging short thoughts with the parents and J.

After a restless morning I went to work before the doors were unlocked because I wanted to do something. At first the work wasn't as absorbing as I'd hoped, firstly because I felt the need to talk about the election, and secondly because it was terribly quiet at work from my colleagues being as shocked and dampened as I was. One American colleague (who, I will mention, had taken the trouble to vote, although he is living here) looked even more affected than the others, and it turned out that he had been awake since 1 a.m. reading the news. Even in the evening, it felt like a balloon had very noisily burst, and we were still plunged in the silence after the blast.

In the course of the day I realized that there are several things that worry me:

1. How much respect Donald Trump will have for the mechanism of a liberal democracy. As a businessman I presume that his influence has been limited by the judiciary and by the political field. As a president, not as much, perhaps. I also worry that he will use his influence to harm people - private citizens or politicians - who opposed him during the election.

2. His policy with regard to Mexico and Canada (NAFTA). New trade agreements or the suspension of old ones might have a terrible effect on the economy in neighbouring countries. Also, poorer working conditions within the United States itself (cheaper!) and abroad. Destruction of unions.

(If I remember correctly, the most recent Bush government illegally put tariffs on certain types of lumber, which hamstrung the Canadian logging industry and helped create actual ghost towns along the Pacific West Coast.)

3. Mexico: Severe poverty if families of the Mexican citizens who are working in the United States will, in fact, be denied funds earned by their relatives, in order to force the Mexican government to fund the reinforcement of the US-Mexico border.

Also, the lot of Muslim Americans.

4. Ties to the Russian government. He and Vladimir Putin are strategic allies for the moment, but that may not last. I worry that there will be a Cold War with proxy wars in more countries in the Middle East or even eastern Europe.

5. Political polarization. That he will be on such poor terms even with the rest of the Republican party that nothing will be done.

6. He may be impeached for personal misconduct or political impropriety. (Which could have an evident advantage for the rest of us.)

7. Worsened crime. Privatized prisons, bad policy will likely lead to higher crime rates.

8. Racism. Especially in law enforcement.

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On the other hand, and maybe this is an insensitive statement, I am terribly glad to be in Europe as a European right now.