Newsletter #5
Election Week
Dia duith ó Bhaile Átha Cliath! Hello from Dublin!
Well, hello again. I realize I cut the last newsletter short. Many things happened in the past weeks that I would love to write about, but I need to talk about the election first. I know it has been a while since the election, and we would all rather forget about it and move on, BUT no progress comes from complacency. So here I am, talking to you, hoping you want to hear this. Fair warning: it’s a bit of an indulgence on my part; read at your own risk. But also, I hope you do read it :)
I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with this, but in 2016, I was something of a pre-teen activist. I took it upon myself to write about how angry I was with the state of society and our government. On the morning that we found out Trump had been elected the first time, I cried, and then I wrote a paper. Then, I submitted that paper to the New York Times Op-Ed section. I was twelve. And oh lord, did it become my personality. I was convinced I would run for president; I had a twelve-step plan.
Being in Ireland during this situation has given me a very strange perspective. I feel both relieved not to be in the States and incredibly isolated from my community. I was in my History of Ethics class on the Thursday after the election. The class is comprised almost exclusively of Irish students. My group members asked me how I was feeling, to which I shrugged and said, “I’ve been better.” That was a sentiment they understood, but while they asked me about my reactions to the election, I found myself wondering what they thought about it. So, I asked them, because what’s the point of being in Ireland if not to experience cultural exchange?
Most of my group members weren’t surprised by the results (which surprised me). They explained that, to them, American politics sounded like a sitcom, more for entertainment than something with real repercussions. My classmate Michael told me that he understood the repercussions of a Trump presidency globally but emphasized that most of the rest of the world was unaware of the effects that would be seen on trade and international relations. Some of my group members felt that Kamala was not given a fair campaign, which I agreed with. My classmate Niamh also mentioned that the Democratic Party hadn’t nominated this presidential candidate from a primary, meaning we were given no real choice in our candidates. A sentiment I’ve heard echoed, from my classmates to talkative cab drivers, is that so many Americans are qualified to run, so why have we been cycling through the same candidates for 12 years?
The election has happened, the votes have been counted, and we have a “new” President-Elect. My thoughts on what the Democratic Party could have done differently feel less important than they did while the votes were being counted, but humor me. Joe Biden did many good things for our country. Things like reinforcing the Affordable Care Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, and the infrastructure bill (whose benefits will be felt FAR into the future), all while reducing unemployment AND appointing a black woman to the Supreme Court. But, given his age and mental decline, I do not think he should have tried for a second term at all. I was prepared to vote for him as a form of harm reduction because I was really voting for Kamala as his VP, but I wasn’t thrilled about it. Biden dropped out of the race too late and did not give Kamala the time to set up a proper campaign. Primaries are vital to a campaign. A candidate can test ideas, see how they poll, and, most importantly, work with their party to figure out the best person to run for office. Kamala was not given that opportunity. I think what surprised many of us was just how much Trump won electorally. I was expecting a closer race (which may have been a result of the bubble that I willfully put myself in), but toward midnight on election night in the States (4 am in Dublin), it was clear what was going to happen, and that was scary.
I think that the main issue is that the Democrats have been promoting the same ideals for years and years, and I'm worried that people are becoming numb to the messaging. The most significant selling point cannot be just abortion rights; we have other policies that would do just as much good that people don't focus on. During this election, they spent so much time talking about social justice issues and not enough time talking about economic policy, even though Kamala had a strong policy plan. A big part of the democratic policy structure is centered around the idea that a federal government can work for the people through welfare, subsidies, regulation, and supporting small businesses. These are among the things that we as a populace should focus on in addition to abortion and general women’s rights.
I am not afraid of Trump as a president, and I recognize that I am in a very privileged position to say that. What I mean by that is I have the privilege to find ways around the laws he could enact. On the very prominent topic of abortion, I live in New York State, where abortion rights are enshrined in our state’s Constitution. This means that while the federal government may restrict access to abortion in other states, New York will be relatively protected from these changes, and so will I.
Talking to my international friends from Bates has put things into perspective for me. Some of them are concerned that they won’t be let back into the country for their senior year. They are already making preparations to ensure they can return to study at Bates in the fall of 2025.
I am scared of his presidency's lasting domestic and global effects. I worry that the disappointment from this election will cause us to disengage from American institutions as a whole. I have been a victim of this disengagement and am working to keep myself informed. This disengagement is ridiculously scary. I have to care. If I don’t, I’m excusing this behavior as normal when it is anything but. I could write pages and pages about this and still not get to the end of my thought process.
While I don’t entirely understand or agree with the current government systems, I recognize that a complete overhaul of the American government is not needed right now (although this is kind of what I think we need). However, my biggest fear with this election is that we will reach a point where we find that our government does not work effectively. I realize that this is a sentiment that drove many Americans to vote for Trump in the first place. I understand that some form of government needs to exist, and we need a system of checks and balances, but as we have just been made aware, our existing system of checks and balances can be exploited.
This election has given all three branches of our government to the Republican Party in a way that entirely diminishes our system of checks and balances. One of those branches is the judicial branch, the Supreme Court, which will be conservative for the rest of our lives. In high school, I took a class from Steven Mazie (he is so cool; look him up) on the Supreme Court and learned about the judges, how they make decisions, and the sheer power the court wields. The Supreme Court is meant to be a branch of government above the two-party system we have perpetuated. The only “sides” you can be on when serving on the Supreme Court depend on how you read the Constitution. You can treat the Constitution as a living document that evolves as the American people do (living constitutionalism), or you can take it at its word and read it as it was written (textualism). How you do that should have very little to do with your personal politics, but that is rarely the case. You are making sweeping decisions on state and federal laws in both cases. The moment the court deems a law unconstitutional, it becomes null. That is a lot of power to have.
I believe one needs to read the Constitution in both ways to do it justice. We are not the America that existed when the Constitution was written, but there is a reason it has stayed relevant for 236 years. This also applies to how I think the American government should be run. We are one nation, but it hasn’t felt that way for at least 8 years (I recognize that I am 20 and only gained social and political consciousness relatively recently). American partisanship is the definition of us getting in our own way. Ultimately, we all want the same thing: financial stability, general independence, and security (among other things, I’m sure. Let’s all keep in mind that I am 20 and don’t know everything there is to know about life). The only way to pass laws, create legislature, or enact positive change in this country is to recognize our similarities rather than our differences. We as a nation must understand the power of similarity and common goals or values versus the stalemate of division. Differing ideas and challenging each other can be productive. But, the underlying goal should be to work together to move forward (I am citing Trinity Poon for this wording. She is so incredibly eloquent).
The partisan divide in this country has reached a point that genuinely scares me. I’d rather not dwell on what I can’t change. Still, the sentiment I have seen echoing across the ether (and my friend Dylan’s essay on the subject, which is fantastic, and you should read it) since the election is that I don’t think you are a terrible person if you voted for Trump. Still, you looked at his messaging and found it was not a deal breaker. You saw the transphobia, xenophobia, misogyny, and other forms of hate and control and found that you could still vote for him because of what his campaign promised you. While I understand where that sentiment comes from, I wish people had researched it further. This is not an unprecedented event; we have been here before. I don’t believe that any of those economic promises will be fulfilled. We have watched campaign promises get ignored for a wall, and now I think we're going to watch our infrastructure crumble for three really rich guys to get richer.
To leave you with some closing remarks, I quote from a paper that 12-year-old Tamrin wrote about the first Trump presidency, “My point is for the next four years, it is our job to stand up to him, and at the end of his term it is our job to make sure he doesn’t get a second term (this aged poorly). For the next four years, we have to stand up in solidarity and be strong because our country has survived worse. We have to accept those who don’t feel accepted and help those who don’t feel helped and need those who don’t feel needed. Because we as Americans are accepting people."
12-year-old Tamrin was definitely onto something, but 20-year-old Tamrin has tangible requests of all of you. I know, at times, this can all feel overwhelming, but it is so incredibly important to stay engaged throughout this presidency. People have been creating lists of ways to protect your information, protest, and stay informed. If you used to use GoodReads, I’d recommend switching to StoryGraph. Cancel your subscriptions to big corporations that directly funded Trump’s campaign, shop local, research your period tracking apps, and consider switching to one that won’t sell your information to the authorities. Read books, keep yourself informed, don’t get complacent. My dad once told me, "This presidency is a hiccup in time. Hopefully, this hiccup doesn't destroy our esophagus.” And if we can help it (we most definitely can), we only hiccup twice.
I’d like to thank Luca, Trinity, Natalie, Dylan, Simon, Aratrika, Susanna, Laura, and Pranav for reading this manifesto at least six times before I deemed it worthy of sending to all of you. Thank you, I love you.
And thank you to the rest of you for sticking around through that. Your usual light-hearted content resumes here:
Ok, a life update is in order after all of that. So, after returning from Copenhagen, I rushed back to UCD to put my huge bag down. Then I turned around and rushed to the Clayton Hotel, where my Dadima and Dadaji were staying! I fear I rushed too much and almost got run over several (3) times. It’s crazy what being in Denmark for two days will do to one’s perception of the right side of the road. Anyway, I know we’re all looking forward to reading some bullet points, so here you go!
Dadima and Dadaji:
Went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells
Dadaji specifically made friends with the entire Clayton Hotel staff
We went on a number of cute little walks around the city
They saw Grafton Street
Walked through St. Stephen’s Green
Got lunch in Powerscourt Townhouse (if you can’t tell, I’m giving you all a Dublin itinerary if you ever come to visit)
The weather was not exactly desirable, so we also watched some Bollywood movies and knitted quite a bit (well, I knit, and Dadima made sure I didn’t mess up too badly)
I took them to my favorite Indian restaurant in Dublin (it’s called Ruchii, and it is fantastic)
We ordered, and the waitress spoke to Dadima and Dadaji in Hindi. Then, she figured I must also speak Hindi, and I had to disappoint her.
Dadima got a dosa, and Dadaji got a whole thali (plate) of different kinds of bread and stuff (we’re talking idli, uthappam, vada, AND dosa)
I got a form of Chicken Chettinad that was good (I like their dosas better, though)
On our Uber back from the restaurant, Dadaji found out that our driver was Punjabi like he was, and they hit it off.
When we left the cab, the driver started giving me some words of wisdom IN PUNJABI, so obviously, I got none of it.
I asked Dadaji to translate later in the evening, and he told me the guy had said something about not getting in fights. Do I look like someone who goes around fighting people? Honest question.
Then it came time for Dadima and Dadaji to head to Birmingham, so I put them in a cab and sent them off to the airport.
The timeline is slightly off here, but to put things in perspective, Dadima and Dadaji got to Dublin on Wednesday, October 30th. They left Dublin on Sunday, November 3rd. I bring this up because on Halloween (October 31st), I politely took my leave of my grandparents to see Lizzy McAlpine in concert. Finley and I dressed up as Linguini and Remi from Ratatouille. I decided to wear heeled boots. That was a mistake.
Anyway, the concert was incredible!
Lizzy came out dressed like Cruella de Ville, and her band was dressed as the 101 Dalmations, which was ADORABLE.
I geeked out over the band's setup and decided I needed to learn to play the lap steel immediately.
She sang chemtrails and I cried
She sang Big Yellow Taxi, and I rejoiced
We met two girls in line who took pictures of us, and they were so sweet
We thought they were in their twenties, only to discover they were 16 and 17.
Overall, great success.
Then came the dreaded election week. Finley and I decided we would drink and watch happy movies while the coverage was playing on another computer in the corner. And that is precisely what we did. We watched Bottoms, which was great. Then we watched Red, White, and Royal Blue, which was just a little too on the nose. Once it hit 4 am, we decided to call it and go to bed. At that point, it seemed clear what was going to happen. So, we went to bed, and when we woke up in the morning – well, I’m sure we all felt it, so I won’t try to describe it. The obvious course of action was to make pancakes in Finley’s kitchen and talk about the future of democracy with everyone who came in. It was beyond therapeutic.
Later that night, Finley and I had tickets to a Medium Build concert at the Workman’s Club in Temple Bar. So, we went. And it was such a good decision. It turns out that screaming to songs you know, and songs you don’t know is the perfect way to get all of your scary election feelings out.
We met another girl from UCD at the concert and hit it off with her
After the concert, we all got another drink and just sat and talked
I met the opener, Greta Isaa, and got to tell her how incredible her set was
She’s in a band with Dodie; I highly recommend her music
We ran into Medium Build himself!
We commiserated over being American and talked about how helpful it is to have outlets like music and places to be together.
I also got to tell him how Simon and Luca introduced me to him after seeing Rainbow Kitten Surprise in Maine, and he was excited about that.
One last update, and then I promise I will let you go live your very important lives. I had another group of visitors! Auntie Andi and Uncle James! They arrived on November 7th, and I had dinner with Uncle James that night. I’ll spare you all the details, but I made a reservation at a restaurant and showed up; they were closed but insisted on seating me, and the two people there told me they would just cook whatever I wanted to eat. In retrospect, it was a lovely offer, but I was just so uncomfortable. Thankfully, Uncle James showed up, and we left and went somewhere else.
That Friday night, we went to the Fish Shop because, duh, it’s incredible. Saturday night, I took Preston with me, and we went to the Green Hen, which was also quite good, although they got Auntie Andi’s order wrong and kept asking to give us free chips. We were meant to get breakfast on Sunday, but Uncle James fell ill in the night, so it was just Auntie Andi and me. We went to Hatch Coffee in Blackrock (love that place) and split an avocado toast. So many young families were out and about, and it was adorable.
Anyway, that concludes my very long newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and it gave you something to think about or distracted you from thinking about things you did not want to think about (that’s a lot of the word ‘think’ in one sentence. My bad). This is the longest any of my newsletters have ever been, so thank you for sticking with it. Stay tuned for my trip to London, my family visiting, and many other things! Since I won’t be home for Thanksgiving, tell me about your plans! I want to live vicariously through each and every one of you.
With every little bit of love I’ve got,
Tamrin
Timmy Two Shoes
