I know it has been a while. School has kept me busy and away from this blog. This is the first week I’ve been able to have a few days to myself in a row. I can’t help but wonder if my professors knew this election was going to be terrible for a lot of students and themselves, so they didn’t assign many assignments, if any, this week. And terrible is an understatement. For those of you whose candidate won, congratulations; I have nothing more to say on that. But for those of us who were hoping for more and voted for the other side, I feel for you, and you are not alone in feeling painfully disappointed. For readers in general, I hope that if any of my articles have been useful, they continue to be so over the next decade because, no matter who is in office, you still have to take care of your personal responsibilities.
In other news, I finally joined a gym to keep in shape as a college student. My weight was starting to get the best of me, and I foresaw myself falling back into old habits that I worked so hard to reverse. I previously wrote about how I stay in shape as a college student without a gym. Some of the tips I shared did help in the sense that I didn’t go above a number on the scale that, in my mind, is really hard to come back from. But, nevertheless, my weight was creeping up towards it, which influenced me to get both myself and the teen into the gym, as our eating habits with both our studies were falling apart.
In terms of classes, things are going well; my grades are still A’s, and not much is new, except that I’m ready to graduate after next quarter and finish the next two years with a degree that will provide me with a better economic engine to contribute to my financial goals.
Going back to the election, I became physically sick that night and couldn’t sleep until 6 the next morning. However, these last couple of days, I’ve felt better. I often have a rule to give myself 24 hours to feel something and then take action where possible. So today, I spent all day printing statements from all household accounts to take note of our assets, incomes, and spending. I talked with the teen about further tightening our spending, as depending on what the president-elect decides to do, things might get a lot more expensive over time.
It also bothers me to see the divide in our country and the hate that spills from both sides of the political spectrum, though it tends to come more from a certain side. But what bothers me more is not just that people voted for the president-elect—it’s that they voted without intellectual thought or proper critical thinking skills. Hearing things like, “I am voting for Trump because he gave me a check” while complaining about inflation in the same breath, or, “What did VP Kamala Harris do these last 3.5 years?” as if she were the president, which was the narrative the other side counted on and won with. It shows that our education system has failed so many Americans and that mental illness, learning disabilities, and plain ignorance are not talked about enough. “I voted for him because under Biden there were litter boxes in schools for kids that want to be cats.” I can’t help but shake my head at the faulty mechanisms some people have for separating facts from confirmation biases. As long as something fits their already preconceived biases and prejudices, they’ll believe it.
With that said there are several reasons this election outcome happened, but I want to point out two that really bothered me. Of course, there are other severe factors at play like the spread of misinformation, and Kamala Harris’s problem with relating to the middle and lower class ( I can’t remember the last time Sunday dinners were a thing, can you? People are too busy working to make ends meet, weekends included, to have Sunday dinners, and celebrities although working people within their own class still have way more comfort than the average American, hence most of them went right to posting their glam shots and stories about parties after the loss of the election), and other factors not mentioned, but these two stand out most to me right now…
1) People don’t understand inflation and how it works, and believe the president-elect will now save them ( It seems that a large percentage of people forgot we went through a pandemic and that there were going to be consequences outside of the deaths from covid and therefore blame Biden); and 2) It’s hard for many white people to wrap their minds around a Black woman president, evident in the majority of white males and females voting against her, even if they despised Trump. It’s hard to live among this ideology, and it’s especially prominent in the lower classes, with exceptions, of course.
And then for those that did vote for her, some only cast their ballot for her because she wasn’t Trump, knowing it would directly affect them this time around, but never bothered to learn her name properly and were quick to nitpick at her past as a prosecutor and complain to others about her without ever bothering to do a single ounce of research on their own or ever watch a single interview or rally of hers. Their vote wasn’t for her or for the greater good of the country – it was for them. Similar to how they complain about people who were selfish in their votes for Trump.
Although this is not as bothersome as it is to see many of the white women who voted for her continue to excuse the behavior of the white men they support. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “He might say some things that are racist or homophobic, but…” Whether it’s about a family member, a friend, or a celebrity, many continue to support white males who endorsed Trump’s rhetoric, making excuses rather than holding them accountable, and then wonder how so many can support a president who displays the same behavior- this is where cognitive dissonance is prominent. If Trump didn’t come after women’s rights it makes me wonder how much less of the vote from this demographic would she have gotten?
Of course, there are then those who just didn’t care to vote and sat on the sidelines.
If anything, this week has taught me that I must continue building what I’m working towards for my household. The ultimate goal for us is for investments and dividends to be the bread and butter of our livelihoods, with each source of income contributing to our growing wealth. That’s the long game. It’s why I started the private investment fund this year. It’s why I’m back in school—one needs an economic engine to build the life one wishes to design. And because, no matter what happens externally, we will be able to take control of the wheel and steer our family to safety, like traveling outside the U.S. when political turmoil gets too heavy or hate continues to grow. Not that other countries don’t have their own issues, but I do have friends who left as far back as 2016 and have only been back once, feeling happier, less stressed, and healthier where they are.
It’s important to note again that money is a tool. It provides options, and as much as we don’t like to admit, those with the financial means to leave or fight policies with lawyers are better situated than those who lack resources where it matters.
With that said, I didn’t think this would turn into a post about my thoughts on the election, but perhaps I needed this outlet. As always, I’m open to readers leaving comments, but if they dismiss, invalidate, or harass, I have no problem blocking. I am at the point in my life where if someone tells me the sky is green, I nod my head and continue on my way—I won’t argue or even try to talk sense. I must save my energy and intellectual skills for the things that matter and that can make a difference in my life and those around me.
P.S. I also acknowledge that the system has made it difficult for some voters to feel represented and I understand how personal circumstances can shape people’s decisions. Hopefully, this blog will help you to become more financially liberated, influencing other areas of your life so you can make the hard choices down the road without abandoning all morals, ethics, and beliefs out of desperation – there are some of you in this boat and that has not been lost upon me.
The Broke College Student 
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