Watching the US Election from New Zealand
Watching the US election from New Zealand has been a bizarre experience. On the one hand, I’m completely invested in the outcome of the election. Even though I’m in New Zealand, I still care about the US. I’m worried about my friends and family. The implications of the election affect our decisions on what we will do in the future and the potential to go back. On the other hand, it doesn’t affect much of our day-to-day life. I’m going to be able to drop my kids off at school in the morning without fear of covid, civil unrest, or unleashed and unfettered bigotry.
This election is also the first time my kids are old enough to learn some of the basics of how the US government works. They’ll be able to vote one day, and I want them to understand the platforms of the political parties, how the electoral college works, and what the difference is between the Senate and House of Representatives. It is never too early for a civics lesson (and clearly a greater understanding of how elections work is needed by a portion of the US electorate). We decided to take the kiddos to the Democrats Abroad election watch party where they could watch results come in and we could discuss what each result meant. It was wonderful to be able to share that with them, surrounded by other Americans. We got a lot of thoughtful questions during this experience, like “how can Donald Trump win if more people like Joe Biden?” Side note - that really makes one question the electoral college if even a five year old intuitively understands how bizarre and unfair it is.
Unfortunately, the 2020 election only confirms our decision to move to New Zealand. No matter who wins, a large segment of the population is going to feel disenfranchised. Both sides think the other has the potential to escalate things to a point of violence. Both sides are already gearing up for a legal battle. It’s a pile of kindling waiting for a spark.
If Biden wins - and I hope he does - he’s going to face all of the problems the US had before Trump, plus covid, plus the social inequality issues that turned from a simmering undercurrent in the US to a raging inferno under the current administration, plus a decreased trust in American institutions both domestically and internationally. While Biden is trying to be a unifier, the US seems too polarized for this to be possible, especially if the senate doesn’t flip. I like Biden and think he’s a step in the right direction, but I don’t think he is a miracle worker.
If Trump wins, I fear the US will continue to go down what I see as a troubling path. The divisiveness will continue to grow exponentially. There will be no hope at containing covid. He’ll continue to chip away at American institutions. I’m worried about future immigration, environmental, and social policies that will take the US backwards.
The worst part of all of this is that there doesn’t appear to be a graceful way for either side to back down. It has become a zero-sum game for both parties. Part of our decision to move to New Zealand was that we didn’t see how the 2020 election would fix the underlying issues in the US, especially that “us-vs-them” mentality, and especially when you add a right-leaning Supreme Court with lifetime appointments. We also thought that when faced with a crisis, Trump was terribly unqualified to handle it. (We assumed it would be some sort of military engagement somewhere. A pandemic wasn’t on our radar, but our belief in his skill set still turned out to be right.) Unfortunately, the rifts tearing the US apart have only been amplified by Trump’s divisive rhetoric. He’s a symptom of much bigger problems in the US, ones that won’t be solved once all of the ballots are counted and court cases settled.
There is nothing to do now but wait for the ballots to be counted, the legal battles to resolve, and hold our collective breath to see what reaction normal Americans will have to the outcome. Despite all of my fears, I’m still hoping for the best.
Since we are one of the token American families in New Zealand, the press came a-callin’ to get our take on things as expats in New Zealand. Below find two little items we were involved in that I thought I’d share:
US elections 2020: Expats in New Zealand anxious for state of country
