Trump is President: We Have Only Ourselves to Blame

It's time to take a long look in the mirror because that's where the real villain exist.

Donald Trump victory

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When Biden defeated trump in the 2020 elections, it was a moment of levity and joy. I considered that race to be our version of End Game. After facing a crushing defeat in 2016, we licked our wounds, suffered the consequences of our failures, and returned with a resounding victory. Was Biden my ideal candidate? Absolutely not, but he wasn’t trump, which was good enough for me. I was no fool; I knew we wouldn’t be able to accomplish the kind of change necessary to transform this country, but after everything that happened under the donald, I was sure those in power understood what we were facing this time. 

Unfortunately, on November 5th, 2024 I was hit with a sobering reality. trumps decisive victory was the actual End Game. As I watched the returns come in, I struggled to understand why so many people could put their vote behind a man clearly unfit for the job. Biden hadn’t been perfect, and in some cases, he has been a downright disappointment, but at least he wasn’t trump. Wasn’t that enough anymore? The stinging loss brought me back to the final battle at the end of Avengers Endgame.

After blowing up their headquarters, Thanos sat patiently, waiting for Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America to confront him. As they approached, he looked up and said, “You could not live with your own failure; where did that bring you? Back to me.” Thanos was right; after failing to stop him in their previous battle, the Avengers, in a desperate attempt to undo that loss, decided to go back in time and manipulate the results. But, like in real life, trying to cover up or change your mistakes will not heal the damage or harm caused. The only way to do that is to face it, and if the Avengers had faced that failure, to begin with, they would have seen then what I’m starting to understand now. What made Thanos such a great villain wasn’t that he was powerful. What made him terrifying and his victory feel so complete was the clarity in his mission and the troubling alignment he had with our favorite superheroes. Let’s unpack that a little.

Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and all of the Avengers became heroes because of the problems they saw in the world. They fought and defeated the biggest and scariest villains, and because of these epic battles, have gained adoration and support worldwide, but that’s not the whole story of how people received them. There was also a quiet but growing set of people who were unhappy with their actions. We see the Avengers through their perspective. For that reason, every action, no matter how drastic, is done with good intentions. But what about the people who have to live with the destruction after? In most comic book movies, their experiences aren’t highlighted.

The first time we see a real shift in this style is in the Avengers Civil War Movie. While most fans will remember the intense fight scenes between Captain America and Buckey versus Iron Man, there was a lot more going on in this film. Specifically, there was a catalyst to this conflict, and his name was Helmut Zemo. After losing his wife and kids from the events of the second Avengers movie and watching his country be decimated from a fight between the Avengers and a villain they created (ultron), Zemo vows revenge. This resolve is what pushes him to orchestrate a plan that pits the Avengers against each other, leading to the eventual fracturing of the team. The consequences of this would result in the Avenger’s eventual defeat when Thanos finally arrives. 

  Thanos came from a planet where there were more people than resources. As a result, he grew up witnessing pain, suffering, poverty and misery. Like the heroes, he decided to take action; he concluded that the only way to stop mass suffering is to collect enough power to eliminate half of the universe. He identified the collection of infinity stones as the tool to accomplish this goal and made it his life’s work. Both Zemo and Thanos are driven by the world around them, but like the Avengers, they have decided to take action. 

Here’s where things get interesting: We look at villains like these inhuman anomalies that come from nothing when in truth, the greatest villains aren’t abominations; they’re reflections. They result from what happens when we refuse to face our contradictions, make excuses for poor behavior, struggle to see beyond ourselves, and blame everyone for our shortcomings.

The most compelling villains are the ones who have a clear mission and the determination to accomplish it at all costs. If we want to end the harm they cause, we must look at ourselves, make tough changes, and be just as disciplined. Comic books and movies don’t require this final leap for their heroes. But, in real life, it is imperative we face ourselves if we want to end the cycles of harm that are necessary for villains to be born.

Many of us believe President-Elect trump to be a villain, and rightfully so. He is racist, targets minority groups, is openly selfish and power-hungry, and will support policies that may do major harm to our communities. Yet, despite everything he has said and done to show his true colors, he captured enough voters for a decisive win against Kamala Harris. In 2016, trumps victory sent me to an angry place. I wasn’t able to accept that so many people chose hatred, and in response, I decided to hate them back. This time around, I have more empathy and a different analysis. The majority of voters didn’t choose trump because they’re racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or xenophobic. Are there many people within his base who are those things? Yes, but for most of the people who voted for him this time around, their decision was a lot more nuanced than some are willing to admit. We are all upset, but to pile everyone into that bucket would be unfair and counterproductive. What led to these results is complicated and relatively simple. His rise to power is proof of our failures. 

For years, the American people have been expressing growing frustrations about housing instability, the rising cost of food, feelings of alienation, homelessness, and a lack of trust in our institutions. And while the Democratic Party hasn’t completely sat on its hands, it was never willing to tell the truth about what was happening, nor was it willing to go far enough to change people’s material conditions. In the last four years, we have watched companies implement surge pricing on customers for groceries. Meanwhile, Wall Street investors are buying an endless supply of homes only to use an algorithm to jack up the price of rent and take advantage of the poor and working class. 

While this happened, Biden and Democrats failed to raise the minimum wage for workers and blamed an unelected actor. They continued to send Israel money while its government committed atrocities in the open. While millions of Americans don’t have access to affordable health insurance, the country we’re subsidizing guarantees it for its citizens. 

Our legislators kneeled in Kente cloth while chanting “Black Lives Matter” then fell silent while the Black people in Jackson, Mississippi, had their rights stolen. Just like villains don’t appear from thin air, dedicated to causing harm for the “hell of it,” people don’t suddenly vote for a tyrant. They did it because they felt they had no choice; the current system we live in, the one Democrats are committed to protecting, no longer works for them. 

But it's not just the Democratic Party at fault here; as a self-proclaimed lefty, I feel ashamed for the times I full-out dismissed someone because their politics didn’t align with mine or they didn’t use the correct or approved language. I’m embarrassed at how often I chose to make up my mind about a group of people without ever attempting to understand where they were coming from. White supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and the Republican Party share blame as well. However, the world that Trump promises is the one they believe in. If we wanted something different, we had to show what it looked like through our actions, and people didn’t like what they saw from us. 

So where does that leave us? There’s good and bad news and some things folks won’t like. First, we must accept that the results are accurate, and Americans' choice should tell you that this is who we are. But who we are in a specific moment, or a choice, doesn’t have to be the end. Things can change if there is hope, love, empathy, and understanding. Humans are beautiful because we are not what happened to us; at our core, we are what we become. 

I have a theory: The turning point in that final battle in End Game was both on the nose and beautiful. After bringing back their friends and family, the Avengers united as one front for a final big battle, and when the time came to decide the victor, they defeated him by taking the stones and reimagining the world. We have faced a crushing defeat, but it is not the end. If things are to change, we must get serious about it. That means seeing our liberation in others and showing people with our actions what type of world we want to live in. This isn’t the end; it's the moment we get to decide who we want to become.

Congratulations, you made it to the end; what did you think? 

• What do you think about the results of this election?

• Do you feel hopeful about the future of this country?

• What do you think led us to this conclusion?