I worry about the direction the US seems to have headed.
I worry the election of Trump is a vote to result in increased social intolerance, increased division and increased tensions within society.
At a time when America has never, to my eyes at least seemed more vulnerable to terrorism, environmental disaster, cyber crime and gun related tragedy this is a toxic recipe for trouble.
Now more than ever it seems to me the US needs to be leading the way on climate change and measures to combat it. It needs to set the example to the rest of the world on issues such as efforts to bring about genuine peace settlement in the middle east. This as well as a critically important home agenda featuring gun crime, drug dependency and proper, equal health care cover for all US citizens. All issues on which Obama tried so hard to make progress. That progress and those efforts already seem under threat of being undermined at best and trashed at worst.
The language Trump speaks about putting American people first makes me suspect he runs the risk of mass isolationism in economic, political and social terms. I fear it will not be a case of America coming first but certain groups of Americans rather than all. If all countries took the same type of view as Trump seems to it scares me to think the state the world would be in. It seems wholly naive to think the affairs of and state of another nations can be just disregarded in favour of focussing on the home agenda. You see Mr Trump, what goes on in the rest of the world is going to affect your country one way or another. It cannot just be dismissed out of hand.
The world is a big place with a lot of problems. To let things drift into calamity around the globe will sure as hell catch up with all of us in the end.
War, disease, poverty, inequality, environmental damage and denial of true liberty are issues for the world majority to stand up against as one. For perhaps the most important western democracy to even be suspected of not caring about these issues on the basis of home priorities being all is as soul destroying as it is counter productive and ultimately self defeating. For even the mere suspicion that the leader of such a democracy has so little respect for women or indeed anyone who challenges him on any subject without social media admonishment in return feels rather depressing. Being overly concerned with numbers of those who witnessed an inauguration ceremony is one thing plenty bad enough.
Building walls with one hand while seemingly burning bridges with the other is significantly more troubling to my mind.
The saddest thing of all is that America ever got itself into a situation where it was Trump v Clinton for the White House.
How thoroughly depressing
.