Anybody who thinks Trump’s victory is just another loss to the right-wingers has not been paying attention. Some have likened it to the Brexit vote in England, where an insurgency created chaos by voting for Great Britain to leave the European Union. I beg to differ. Our presidential election is Brexit on steroids. Moreover, Great Britain has the steady hand of its leader, Prime Minister Theresa May, to manage the chaos. We have the ignorant and unsteady hand of Donald Trump, who is the cause of our impending chaos. So chaos it will be, not for everyone but certainly for those of us not favored by this system.
There are many areas in which Americans will probably be adversely affected under the Trump administration. I will discuss just one—mortality. All other things being equal, with the abolition of the Affordable Care Act (the so-called ObamaCare) which seems a certainty, more Americans are expected to die. ObamaCare is not great; however, it is better than what existed before it was implemented. By March of 2015, about 25 percent of persons previously uninsured were covered. With that trajectory, 31 million non-elderly Americans of the 40 million uninsured would be expected to be insured by 2025.
Before ObamaCare, according to various studies, between 20,000 and 45,000 Americans died each year due to a lack of health insurance. With the number of uninsured dropping 75 percent by 2025, the death rate is expected to drop similarly, to some 5,000 to 11,000 per year. If ObamaCare is abolished, as expected, the deaths would surely increase, back to something like the 20,000 to 45,000 a year. Yes, some policies are matters of life and death.
Such disheartening news might cause one could be tempted to give up and accept gracefully an impending doom. However, I cannot do that. I have been heartened by the response of many people. There are the demonstrators across the country who are making it clear that the path the United States is on is problematic. Friends and colleagues are expressing their increasing resolve to fight back, and there are the overwhelming actions of many citizens to contribute to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). As a member of the board of directors of the ACLU-VA, I was extremely pleased to learn that on Wednesday, the day after the election, 30,000 donations totaling $2,000,000 were received by the national ACLU, which is gearing up to fight against several of Trump’s proposals that are seen as constitutional violations. So I am still in this fight.