STP OPINION: Leave the rhetoric, make Donald Trump work for you by Kanika Singh

SheThePeople OPINION
Kanika Singh

This Wednesday, November 9, was a regular work day at my Southern California office only it felt so different. Donald Trump had won, Hillary had conceded, and most of my friends in California were in a state of shock.

At noon, at a women’s brown bag lunch meeting, I checked in with my good friend, an American. She told me that she was so distraught; she cried talking about the result in a senior manager’s office. The Facebook freak out had started the previous evening when the results started coming in.

I feel the pain and shock of my well-meaning liberal friends who were pretty certain America would choose Hillary.

But here’s the thing, if one was watching the way the wind was blowing in the world, Trump’s win shouldn’t come as a big surprise. What’s being played out on the world stage in interesting to say the least.

People in India, Europe and the US now, are showing support for conservative leaders who challenge the existing political status quo.

Is there a rise of right wing thinking the world over?

There’s many reasons, but basically people are electing leaders who promise to focus on national interests, securing the country and its borders and creating a healthy economy and jobs for its citizens. A lot of this has to do with the escalating acts of terrorism over the past few years and the rise of ISIS.

In many ways the rejection is of the liberal politics which has not helped this cause, not the liberal values itself. One of the problems that has come to light is the overly left leaning mainstream media that has created a skewed narrative and fear among people for strong right wing leaders.

In many ways the rejection is of the liberal politics which has not helped this cause, not the liberal values itself.

The US election has many parallels with the Indian elections in 2014, two of the world’s largest democracies.

Indian PM Modi was much demonized by the media before the elections. But he has turned out to be the one leader working frantically to boost the Indian economy, fight corruption and create friendly ties with the entire world. He is ruling  as a centrist, even a liberal in the way he approaches some issues.

Modi and Trump are very different personalities but having watched Indian elections closely, the parallels can’t be missed.

How Trump decides to govern will be very clear in the months to come. All his election rhetoric, extreme talk will likely give way to a more mature and inclusive approach. Or at least that’s the hope, that he really has the best interest of America and all its citizens at heart.

There is polarization among the people, not just in the US, but the world over. It’s part of a rebalancing that’s happening for the past 3-4 years. The situation is not doomsday like as some people would like to believe.

Life always moves in a better direction and every churn or transformation brings out all that was hidden to the surface, both negative and positive.

America will thrive and so will the world. When the dust settles, the world will be better than it was a few years ago. There’s no need to give in to fear. In fact, I feel more optimistic than ever.

Kanika Singh is a keen observer of politics and is based out of California
Opinion in this piece is that of the writer not of the organisation.

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