Dear Forty-seventh President of the United States,
We don’t know who you will be, or even if you’ll ever come to be at this point. Trumpism is causing such division, is perpetuating such hatred toward minorities, and is turning a blind eye to so many laws and traditions that there is no guarantee that the nation will survive.
Assuming the United States is still around, when you assume office at some point over the next several years, you’ll be inheriting a very sick, weak, and divided nation. One where Donald Trump has very likely been impeached and maybe even sent to prison. Depending on what happens, we also don’t know who the forty-sixth president will be either. When Trump goes down, given the scope of his administration’s activities, they should all go down. We might even need a new and unprecedented election do-over.
You will have a rare opportunity to show true dedication, leadership, and skill. The task will be tricky. Governing a young nation that covers millions and millions of square miles and that is home to millions and millions of two-legged (and four-legged) animals, is never easy, maybe even impossible at this point. The task is made even more difficult when we consider that a sizable and vocal group of people are afraid of people who don’t look like them or think like them. Thinking itself is condemned. Evidence is irrelevant. Christian theology as currently practiced by the vocal majority continues to be chief when examining what is actually hurting the nation.
These are just some of the obstacles and frustrations you’ll encounter.
Unless something major changes in terms of everyday behaviors, you’ll still be irrationally hated by a sizable majority no matter what you do, even if you promise them utopia and keep that promise. You’ll also be (wrongly) investigated non-stop for years, especially if you are not formally associated with Republicans, especially if you are a woman, especially if you are not White, especially if you are not a Christian, especially if you have an “accent,” especially if you are not a cishet individual – even though we both know the political ideologies of both major parties are essentially the same at the end of the day. FoxNews will lie and manipulate everything you are doing, no matter what political ideology you publicly identify with, as will trolls on the Internet from around the world.
Are you sure you want to be President of this geopolitical area?!
Opportunities for healing the nation will depend on embracing assistance from a variety of people. It’s especially important that you personally are very knowledgeable and knowledgable enough to trust experts, knowledgeable and confident enough to admit mistakes, knowledgeable and skilled enough to analyze and critique, and knowledgable and brave enough to embrace and model the power and opportunity of change.
The United States’s survival depends on the rejection of neoliberal policies and the interconnected classism, racism, and colonialism/imperialism that goes along with that ideology.
The nation cannot survive and thrive without a strong, active government that truly protects its citizens.
The nation cannot survive unless all people are welcomed and embraced.
Soon, as computers and robots replace humans, you will have the seemingly impossible task of convincing people in the United States that a universal basic income is necessary, necessary for the survival of people and the nation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda
Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda 