A note on a year of political tumult

As Roosevelt famously said: 'the seeds of fascism are sown in misery and want'. America has been on a downward trajectory since Bush usurped Al Gore in 2000, so it stands to reason that a protest candidate would eventually capitalise on the misery and want created by a presidential tenure as disastrously bad as that of Bush. But, across the pond, we are all thinking the same thing: Did it have to be him?

Following the result in the US Presidential election, block-layers from all corners of America have begun to assemble on the fringes of the border with Mexico, trowels grasped in eager anticipation. While the victory of the wall-building Trump may have been music to the ears of the bricks-and-mortar of the construction sector, the rest of the world was decidedly less enthused.

2016 has been an insanely tumultuous year. Even still, Trump’s election seemed outlandish right up until it happened. The Orange One’s rapid ascension from reality TV star to the most high-powered public office in the world would have been fascinating to observe were the signs of the impending destruction of the human race not so ominous.

How did such a man get elected? He blows hot and cold with the same velocity as his wispy hair whips in the wind – do Americans really want a man so ruled by his passions to have access to nuclear codes?

From the outside looking in (and believe me, I am quite content to observe this debacle from the outside), it appears as though Trump gave voice to the concerns of working people better than his incredibly impersonal and distant rival, Clinton. Seemingly, it mattered not to the electorate that he also carries with him extremely objectionable personal views.

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