Viewpoint: The Day After: November 6

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By CHAZ PLAGER

Well, folks, that’s it. Today’s the day after election day. We all took our chips, some bet on blue, some bet on red, but in the end, the house won, the margaritas don’t taste so sweet when it’s on your own dime, and the Cocteau Twins asked if it was Heaven or Las Vegas; we got Las Vegas. Now that cherry-colored funk is sweeping the nation just outside your window, and the headache only gets worse.

I can’t lie to you and say it’s not going to be bad, because it is. Things are going to cost more, women in several states are going to lose their right to abortion and birth control, we’ll lose international support, and education of American children will slip back 66 years.

If you think that we’re safe from all this because we’re in California, I hate to break it to you, but Donald Trump has pledged to end the Department of Education, which, despite its relative ineffectiveness, still mandates the teaching of slavery and LGBT rights.

And if you have been following what’s happening in Florida and Texas, you’ll know both states are trying to ban books, as well as burn them. Parents, concerned individuals, really, anyone reading— remember that your school district might try to pass an innocent little initiative. “This book just doesn’t seem fit for kids,” they’ll say. “I just feel like showing the kids the gays at such a tender age will confuse them.” That’s the word— confuse. Kids are smarter than you think! My 8 year-old cousin understands how gay people work better than his uncle could.

Fight tooth and nail to keep your kids educated about topics inconvenient to a Trump administration. That means slavery, civil rights, LGBT rights, immigration, etc. Take an initiative to get your kids reading, whether about these topics or other ones. It was my love of reading that led me to read John Lewis’ biography back in fifth grade, right after Donald Trump was elected, and so I grew up knowing how and why to oppose him.

The worst thing you can do is let your despair drive you to inaction. Apathy is worse than death— death feeds the bugs and the plants, apathy creates nothing but a vacuum. Turn your anger into action and ensure that your children aren’t receiving an education less than what you want.

Keep calm, though. As residents of California, we’ll keep most of our rights, and as residents of a wealthy area, we’ll be able to keep afloat. Best case scenario, those coming tax cuts to the wealthy may benefit us, if the new Propositions don’t take everything else. (Also, did you know LASAN raised residential sewer rates?)

My sincerest prayers to the kids growing up right now, who might lose everything they knew as reality. Godspeed! If God’s not with you, I am.

(Editor’s note: Chaz Plager wrote his first piece for CTN in 2020 and over the three years he’s written more than 80 stories, while taking a full class load at PaliHi, including APs. He is currently a freshman at U.C. San Diego, where he is a Japanese and business dual major.)

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