Cambridge’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1947 No. 817 Friday 11th november 2016 varsity.co.uk
Where do we go from here? edIToRIAl 1 neWS 10 CommenT 14
I
n the early hours of Wednesday morning, the United States elected a racist, bigoted, misogynistic climate change denier to its highest oice. Running on a platform of ignorance, lies and prejudice, Trump’s victory represents the triumph of an abusive, mean-spirited politics. It’s a hard reality to stomach. His unstoppable egomania and bullying disposition stand in direct contention with the human values we develop and nurture during our time here at university: hope, compassion and empathy. he result reinforced what people have felt since the general election of 2015 – a realisation gut-wrenchingly repeated by the Brexit vote in June – that newspapers, television stations and social networks aren’t just poor indicators of how a vote will go, they are often actively and acutely wrong. As he New York Times’ outcome predictor – no doubt carefully balanced for a tight race – swung ludicrously from an 80 per cent chance of a Clinton victory to a terrifying 95 per cent for Trump in a matter of minutes, the unthinkable materialised into reality. From January, the most powerful man in the world will be a shameless man, whose stained business career and vile rhetoric bring shame upon a country which has always deined itself so much in terms of its progressive values. ➼