WHY THIS ELECTION IS SO FRUSTRATING (BEYOND THE OBVIOUS)

and the moral dilemma it’s forced me into. 

As we all know, Election Day is creeping up faster than anyone wants it to. And in the words of SNL, the nightmare won’t be any closer to ending five days from now once all the votes have been cast. I, like many others, have spent hours sitting and agonizing over the future of our country. It is, in my opinion, one of the worst elections we’ve been faced with, especially in a time where our country needs better. 

Beyond the obvious, there was one other thing that had been bothering me in regards to this election. I want to preface what I’m about to say with the fact that, in America, you have the right to vote however you choose. On that same note though, I found it appalling the amount of people I personally knew that were choosing to vote for Trump in this upcoming election. It wasn’t simply that they were choosing to vote for Trump (a man that, politics aside, wasn’t the best morally upright individual) but also the fact that the majority of these people didn’t hold the same values as your average Trump supporter. They weren’t staunchly pro-life, nor were they advocates for many of the anti-immigration policies Trump supporters favored. Many of these people were the exact opposite of the stereotypical Trump voter demographic, i.e., white, Christian, and conservative. In fact, the majority of this group consisted of POC and even women. Having considered all these factors, I just couldn’t wrap my mind around why they’d make such a choice. 

So, in an attempt to clear my confusion, I asked. Why vote for someone like Trump? Someone that largely stood against their personal beliefs and values?

The main answer that came out of it was economics. For many going into this 2024 election, Trump’s handling of the economy during his previous presidency as well as his proposed policies seems to be the main thing attracting voters. 

While part of me understood economics was an important concern, I couldn’t help but think of all the other concerns on the ballot. Did economics truly trump (pun intended) all other issues like abortion & women’s rights to healthcare, immigration, gun violence, foreign policy, and more? 

For a week I grappled with this idea that, as much as one wants to believe people are motivated by collectivist pursuits that affect others, human beings are largely motivated by their own self-interests. In this scenario, many who might not be a fan of Trump himself still believe that the pros of his economic policies outweigh all the other cons presented by his policies. 

And to clarify, self-interest isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, it’s what drives human characteristics like ambition and competition. But in this context, that self-interest comes at a cost.

I would go as far as to say this is most clearly seen in our society and our votes because we, as Americans, come from a culture that values individualism over collectivism. It’s more about each man fending for himself compared to other cultures (such as my own Pakistani/South Asian culture) which value the welfare of the entire community over one specific person. I think that’s why it was even harder to accept the idea that those close to me would be casting their votes for Trump.

Overall, it was still an extremely uncomfortable realization, especially because it forced me to reevaluate the moral pedestal on which I had placed those I loved, respected, and believed shared similar values. Perhaps they had a valid reason for casting their vote for Trump, but it doesn’t change the fact that their vote could go on to negatively affect millions of others: women wanting to access abortions but unable to do so because of the threat of legal consequences for providers, current migrant workers who face the threat of deportation despite having helped our economy, the thousands of Palestinian civilians killed by US-funded bombs, & so many more. 

I realize this moral dilemma isn’t as black and white as we might hope it to be, but it’s still worth considering in the days leading up to the election. Everyone wants to believe they’re making the right choice, but at what point do our choices become justifiable when they come at the expense of others in this country?

At the end of the day, I’m not here to change your vote. That’s a decision everyone must make for themselves, and you have the right to do so. But I do hope that in the future, we can balance our individual interests with the welfare of others—both in our own country and beyond.

• #2024election