It’s almost been a week since Election Day and, during these past few days I have heard nothing but pessimistic thoughts and predictions about America’s future.

In Political Science, our professor told us that the electoral college was made to prevent candidates like Trump from taking the throne. He also told us about climate change- which still surprises me how there are still people that do not believe it exists or do not take it seriously- and how Trump plans to decrease funds in several projects. His presidency sounds like a balloon of poison waiting to burst. I initially thought that his presidency wouldn’t amount to much considering there was a system of checks and balances in the federal government but, even then he still has the potential to do so much damage.

To be frank, I don’t believe most people feel connected or involved in American government or its issues unless it directly affects their line of work. For all my years, I never felt relevant nor affected by whatever bill had been passed or the different laws between each state. But now it’s different; there is a pot of fear and anxiety boiling over in my stomach each time I hear of another intolerable behavior happening in a place like New York City- “a place like New York City,”  a place popular for its diversity, for its generally liberal stance on things- and now you got people punching the elderly for being a particular race or following a specific religion.

When we approached Election Day, the fact that one of our presidential candidates was Trump wasn’t what surprised me; it was the number of people at his rallies, the amount of hate crimes that spiked up because of his presence and empty speeches, it was the amount of videos posted online by people who got stopped and verbally (and sometimes physically) harassed by (often) a Trump supporter, it was the amount of blog posts that were written in lengths similar to that of sermon concerning evidence and reasons why you should not vote for Trump, it was the “Make America White Again” graffiti written with a swastika on a brick wall in the midst of the election.

It was a reminder that because we lived in a democracy, that people like members of the Ku Klux Klan had the right to assembly and to practice their beliefs. It was only (sort of) fine if they didn’t physically nor verbally harassed the other side but now with his presidency, people have become more outspoken about their prejudice. And now we have a president that supports that kind of behavior.

Joy.

During the preview of the website showed in class, the first video my eyes laid on was Laura’s crying face. So I’ve actually wanted to see this video for quite some time now and boy, was it great. Basically, it’s a video about a woman named Laura talking about her son who was murdered by an illegal immigrant, and ending with the conclusion of “Hillary Clinton’s border policy is going to allow people into the country just like the one that murdered my son.“

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This is strongly leaning on pathos; this video tries to evoke empathy in the listener or watcher through the story itself, the music, the filters, the slow zoom-ins and panning of the camera to emphasize the tragedy befallen upon the woman. One could also possibly argue that it can also have  a hint of ethos, implying that it is only right to vote for Donald Trump so that no incidents like these can happen again.

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Not only does this campaign ad evoke sympathy with its story, but it also evokes fear in the audience. During the video, they even described the gruesome things the murderer did to her son and at the end, she declares that if one were to vote for Hillary- something similar might happen to them or their loved ones too. So in a way, it can also be kind of viewed as a “do this or else” kind of tactic to get votes.

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I think the intended audience is for any family member, specifically mothers and fathers, considering they’re always the most concerned about each family member’s safety. Also, note the fact that Laura is a mother and the person who was murdered was her son.

In the video, an important thing I took note of is her use of the word “murdered.” Typically, when one is mourning most people tend to use euphemisms, words or phrases that can be used to replace harsher words, to avoid being too straightforward or blunt. However, in this video, she uses the word “murdered,” very concrete, sharp, and piercing. Using the word “murdered” gets to the audience more, and perhaps makes a bigger impression and plants greater and stronger fear and concern in their intended audience.

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I think this is such an ineffective piece of rhetoric. Perhaps the intended audience might be concerned mothers and fathers, but I think more specifically, it would be narrow-minded mothers and fathers. Any sane person can argue that the murderer in this case just so happened to be an illegal immigrant. Not every person who crosses the border illegally is here to kill your son. They have their own needs, they want jobs, and most are willing to go through extremely low wages just to be able to live here discreetly. The first time I watched it, and I’m sorry Laura, but I scoffed. If that’s the conclusion you’ve ended up with, then Laura, I don’t think your son had to die for you to vote for Donald Trump.

Once I turned eighteen during my senior year in high school, there was already this constant talk and meetings about voting and the importance of it. When they told us to register to vote in that big assembly room, that small thick paper they handed to us seemed so intimidating, especially when they asked for my social security number. (And you know it’s serious when the teachers let you call your mom for access with whatever information you don’t have imprinted in your brain.)

So in my high school government class, my teacher reminded us about why it was important to vote and invited us to discuss as to why or why not we should vote. To be frank, it is not so hard to understand why voting is important or rather, a privilege one should not take for granted. It is so easy to declare that your vote does not matter, and to spread that idea around. Which, of course, only increases the number of votes unaccounted for- which inevitably results in a group of people not being represented in the tally marks. Additionally, we are well aware that there are people back in the day who have fought and died for the right to vote. So, the same way our parents tell us not to waste food because of the children in Africa, we shouldn’t neglect the elections because of those who died and fought for this right to vote.

As we discussed people’s usual reason as to why they don’t vote, the common excuse of “I don’t know anything about these candidates” was brought up. Of course, in a country notorious for its laziness, there is an incredulous amount of Americans that don’t consider this idea: Research about your candidates. It’s not hard in this day and age to get to know your candidates and party and to familiarize yourself with what’s happening in your country. Each vote counts, and spreading that ideology that it doesn’t isn’t going to make this country any closer to being “for the people, by the people.”