Dear America,

I’m writing to congratulate you on your recent endeavor, the highly anticipated but not-so-astounding election of Donald Trump. Prior to the evening of Nov. 5, I had a sickening suspicion that you would head down this unpleasant path, and you’ve absolutely proved me right — see the last edition of the Mass Media for more! If you would allow me, I would like to sing you your praises here for bearing one of the most spectacularly disastrous political events of our current age.

It is incredibly admirable that you have publicly shown that yearning and support for fascism are not things of the past, nor that the United States is immune to these sentiments. You’ve proved to the world that Trump’s first presidency was not a fluke, which eradicates any future excuses of surprise when things implode. If anything, I am worried about your inability to distinguish true populism from a billionaire’s shameless exploitation of the average citizen’s struggles to achieve a selfish power-grabbing goal. Never once during Trump’s presidential campaign has he disguised how he truly views his supporters, or that he revels in knowing he is immune from being forsaken.

I apologize, America, but a real “man-of-the-people” has smugly claimed that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” A man of the people wouldn’t call Americans who died in war “losers” and “suckers,” nor would he say, “We won with the poorly educated. I love the poorly educated,” after he was first elected in 2016. We’ve known exactly who he is for quite some time now. Trump is not a man of the people; he is a man of hate, of greed and of himself.

America, I see three possible reasons why you decided that Trump would be an exceptional leader: complete ignorance, unbridled hate or selfish proclivities. All of which are miserably unfortunate in their own individual ways, and any overlap between them is even more shameful.

I would go as far as to claim that the common denominator between each faction of those who voted for Trump would be the use, misuse or discarding of a metaphorical blindfold. Unwitting ignorance resulting from a lack of access to reliable information on his proposed polices, political standpoints and documented alliances allows for the blindfold to be comfortably tied over one’s eyes, just loose enough to someday be removed. Inexplicable hatred in the form of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, transphobia and the like can be understood as wearing the blindfold with unabashed pride.

Those who refuse this blindfold expose themselves as people filled with unbridled greed, assurance in their superiority and disregard for the impending explosion of suffering. America, you should be afraid that your new president has surrounded himself with individuals like these, powerful people with unhindered understandings of the future. You should be even more wary when they try to convince you that donning the blindfold is the patriotic thing to do, when it truly is not. True love for one’s country is seeing everything it is for what it is; to recognize injustice and call for change, not hiding your eyes from the sight.

I am sad to say that that you have bought a timeless lie: that you matter to a billionaire, and that you are his friend.

But I cannot say that this is surprising to me, because if someone has lied over 30,000 times during their first presidency, it stands to reason that it would continue for years to come. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, America, but he and his associates have not, and never will, care about you — they just want to oppress you.

By electing a fascist, America, you have yanked out any sprouts of democracy that are still rooted in your soil. You have sealed your fate, and kissed the feet of a world that will further subjugate our most vulnerable populations, annihilate our environment, and manipulate your political institutions into supporting authoritarianism. If you thought you would be safe, you are mistaken. As long as you are closer to houselessness than affluence, inches from the sidewalk but miles away from the penthouse, you are at risk.

I could tell you what to do when you finally discover this disheartening and terrifying fact, but I am unsure if you would listen. When you’ve been in the dark for so long, and when the blindfold has been pulled taut for ages, you react to its removal with fear, anger and pain. I wonder how you will react when the eye-watering, striking light of fascism blinds you. Will you rub your eyes and work to fight against oppression? Or will you pick up the blindfold and hastily tie it yet again?

If it ends up being the latter, I recommend that you choose not to remove it. Those of us who have burned our blindfolds long ago, or who have never assumed one to begin with, will never forget this moment. We will never forget the selfish way that you have embraced white supremacy, capitalism and ultra-nationalism. By turning your backs on those in need, by making cruelty the status quo, by gleefully sending us back to a time of intense despair and inequality, by rejecting critical thinking and intellectualism, you have demonstrated the true depravity of humanity.

Regrettably, America, I know that you will completely refuse to read this letter, or you will mock it and me. But my words will never disappear, nor can they be destroyed. Each letter will grow stronger and louder by the day, by the hour, by the minute, until they finally manifest in your misconstrued view of reality. Perhaps then you will consider their validity or seriousness, or maybe you will not. Regardless, I sincerely hope that this discovery leaves you forever changed, that you learn from your choices, and elect not to make them again — if not for yourself, then for our collective future.

Good luck, America.

This article appeared in print on Page 8 of Vol. LVIII Issue VII, published Nov. 18, 2024.