On Biden/Harris 2020

Photo by Olivier Doulery | Getty Images

Last week marked an incredible end to one of the darkest chapters of the 21st century thus far. Once I heard news of Biden's win, I breathed out a huge sigh of relief I didn't realize I'd been holding in for the last four years. I'm not American, but I was raised in Western education systems and imparted many Western cultural values. To me, Trump's presidency was four years of constant anxiety simmering under the surface of every day. People truly seemed angrier, more heavily guarded, less compassionate, less free. It was sentiment we all simply had to live with, and only now that the weight is (mostly) gone do I really notice the effect it had on me and my life. The mere symbolism attached to Trump being the "Leader of the Free World" permeated and allowed so many poisonous, backward ideals - including the rise of, encouragement, even, of tyrannical behavior and unchecked zealotry (side eye to my home country Philippines here).

While Biden comes with his own set of flaws, many far more covert than Trump's, I think it's safe to say that everyone is breathing much easier. I'm reluctant to acknowledge any human being as wielding some kind of Godly power over the world, but I can't ignore the fact that the ramifications of who sits in the Oval Office reach far beyond US soil.

Sans Trump, I'm feeling incredibly optimistic for the near future, now that the US has been reinvigorated. I'm super keen for 2021 and to see progressions in eradicating Covid-19, US-international relations, US immigration, climate change discourse, the Black Lives Matter movement and women in leadership. Biden is against defunding the police and is for police reform, so I'm interested to see if his methods will actually affect any change in law enforcement. He wants to cater to all Americans while facing the most politically polarized America yet.

At the very least, it'll be refreshing to have a president that people can actually engage in meaningful conversation with. In securing the presidency (though we musn't forget at what narrow a margin in the swing states), Biden/Harris offers an opportunity for the world to start healing itself from the trauma of Trump, and to re-evaluate and hopefully re-build broken existing systems. The world is a far cry from where it could or should be, but unseating Trump is a damn good start.