The American people voted, and they voted for Donald Trump!
But do the citizens of the United States really want Donald Trump as their President?
If we break down the numbers from this election, we see that only 18% of the US population wanted Trump as President.
How on Earth do the choices of only 18% of the population exemplify what America wants? These calculations include both adults and children (who count as citizens, though they are not allowed to vote) in order to present an accurate view of the wishes of the total American population. It is important to note that the majority of the people do pay some form of taxes; and the younger generations (those still under the legal voting age) have a voice and opinion as well. And as a libertarian, I believe that citizens on probation for victimless crimes (e.g. drug use, gambling, and prostitution) also deserve a vote and a voice!
Those who voted for Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Evan McMullin, or Darrell Castle are all examples of Americans who did not want Donald Trump as their President.
This lack of turnout by the American people doesn’t only apply to Trump by the way; Hillary Clinton also received just 18% of the popular vote. 18% multiplied by two equals 36%; that means that in total only 36% of the population voted. This is not the majority of the population, so how can it represent “what America wants”?
Here is a mathematical breakdown of the recent US election:
Total US population: 320.000.000
Total votes in 2016: 126.013.000 (39%)
Republican: 59.612.000 (47%) = (18%) of total population
Democratic: 59.814.000 (48%) = (18%) of total population
Libertarian: 04.058.000 (03%)
Green: 01.213.000 (01%)
Other: 00.800.000 (00%)
Some people will look at the statistics and conclude that this is “how democracy works”; well, I don’t like it, and I’m sure many others feel the same way. I’m sure you can at least agree with me that a decision based on the desires of 18% of the total population is not an accurate representation of “what America wants”.
I know in many ways things have always been this way, not just in America, but in every other country as well. But the reason for this article is to point out the arrogance of progressives when they make statements like: “Everyone wants Hillary!” or “America wants what Hillary wants!” as well as to show how blind the populist right-wing movement are when they say: “100% of America wants Trump” or “The American people have spoken, and they want Trump!” This is in no way meant to be an attack on Trump; I would write this article even if Clinton had won the election. To me it does not matter at all.
I am simply curious if this is what the American founding fathers wanted? To be honest, I’m not so sure that it is!
Should the whole system be changed? America is a constitutional republic with some elements of democracy involved, but definitely not an absolute democracy. And what I outlined above is a major flaw in all democracies.
If you look at the percentage of votes cast for both Trump and Clinton, you can see that neither candidate actually reached a majority of fifty percent plus one. Even with the Electoral College, something about that just seems odd.
So next time someone tells you that this is what the American people want, you can show them this article, or the statistics I quoted.
Sandro Waechter
Latest posts by Sandro Waechter (see all)
- No, Donald Trump is Not What America Wants! - November 15, 2016
- Austin Petersen – A New Hope - January 24, 2016
- Cool with Coolidge – Why the world needs more leaders like Calvin Coolidge - January 21, 2016
