Not all doom and gloom in the US

Following the result of the US presidential election, one might be inclined to fall into an abyss of despair for the so-called “death of democracy”.

Indeed, as anti-Donald Trump protesters continue to mobilise, as spray-painted graffiti taint the walls and lives of endangered religious and ethnic minorities, and as EU leaders frantically convene to discuss how a President Trump can affect global ties, it may be easy lose faith in the future of world politics.

Trump ran a divisive campaign built on bigotry, exclusion of “others”, and a rebellion against the status-quo. In the same way that the world tried to wrap its head around the result of the Brexit vote, it must do so again in order to come to terms with the reality that a man with a penchant for twitter rants and no political experience could become the leader of one of the world’s superpowers.

The aftermath of the presidential election brought a range of racial slurs, proving that the US still remains a divided nation.

Still, there is reason for hope.

While Clinton may have lost the Electoral College vote, she was able to capture the popular vote, in a sense vindicating the belief that the majority of Americans wanted her as their President.

Additionally, the age demographics of the election result will show that younger people voted for Clinton while Trump’s support increased significantly with the older population. This is reminiscent of the Brexit referendum where 75 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds voted to remain in the European Union.

The future of far-right radicalism, then, is at least impeded by Clinton’s securing the majority vote, and a generation gap where young adults still believe and see the value in international unions.

To quote the late Leonard Cohen, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

JARREL DE MATAS via email