After Election 2016: Looking Through Tears, We See the World Anew

We have a guest columnist this week at Paineful Truth. While Ms. Lambert and I disagree on many issues, I believe her introspection is much needed at this point in time. And while our beliefs may differ in certain areas, I find there is much upon which we can agree.

~JP

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have.”

This was said by a man that I have some serious disagreements with. However, the election of Donald Trump to president of the United States has made me realize that it is true. And it has made me reevaluate a lot of what I believe.

Bernie Sanders started a movement. He was genuine, real. He was defeated by Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton was everything we hate in a politician. But we hoped she would be better than the misogynistic egomaniac that the Republicans chose. Now Clinton has lost and we are left here.

I share in the sadness, the tears, of many around the world. Not as much at Clinton’s loss, but at Trump’s victory. What have we become?

Then I started thinking. It is what it is, we can’t change that. So how do we make the best of what we have? That’s when I realized that we’ve been looking at government all wrong.

Over the past 8 years, we’ve been happy when Obama did certain things such as push through the Affordable Care Act, sign executive orders to try and curb gun violence, stand up for trans rights, etc. But now the tables are turned.

Now Trump will be the one signing executive orders, pressuring Congress to pass legislation, promoting his own causes. We want to stop him, but how? Obama did the exact same thing and we praised him.

We cannot do what we are attempting to stop the other side from doing. If anything, government has to be fair and equal for both sides. So how do we find a balance?

As I’ve thought on this, the only answer that makes sense is that government has to do less. It’s the only solution that balances power in a sustainable manner.

If under a president we generally agree with (like Obama), we let the government run rampant, it may accomplish our goals at the moment, but we have to think long-term. What happens when the president is Trump?

We don’t put guards on government for when it’s going our way. We put guards on government for when it’s 180 degrees opposite of what we want.

I never thought I’d say this, but Trump is the best argument there is for limiting government. Many of us are afraid of what he might do as president. However, we’re seeing that too late. We were fine with expanding government powers under Obama, but by doing that we expanded those powers for the next guy, in this case Donald Trump.

It sounds ridiculous, but the Constitution may actually be the answer. When we read it, we find it puts a lot of limits on what government can and can’t do.

This sucks when a president Obama is in office, because it means that not as much can be accomplished. However, it is more comforting than a warm blanket on a cold, rainy day when a president Trump is in office.

To sum up, Trump is president and we’re going to have to live with that for the next 4 years. Now is the time for us to begin looking at government differently. It has to do less. We have to limit it so that maniacs like Trump can be reigned in.

But that means as government does less, that we have to do more. We have to care more about the people around us and take our own action to solve the problems we see around us. We should never have relied on Obama’s government to help us. We certainly can’t rely on a government run by President Trump to help us.

Elizabeth Lambert

Follow: @lizzylamb27

Feedback: lizzylamb27@gmail.com