As I navigate the city streets, bogged down with Albuquerque Rapid Transit construction, I can’t help but think: How can I stop this?
ART has been a long time coming, and now that we’re here and it’s real, many of us are asking what more we could’ve done to possibly prevent it, and are looking for a time machine.
Sound familiar? If it does it’s because the presidential “anti-candidate” that is Donald Trump has come upon us in similar fashion. Trump grabbed America by the you-know-what, in such a way that America didn’t even realize what had happened until he was already bragging about it across the room.
Just like ART, Trump is messy, inconvenient, bold in all the wrong ways, costly and most importantly: he is here and it is now. While ART has already broken ground and set off the road rage of a thousand suns, we still have three weeks until we find out if Trump will be another inescapable reality that somehow slipped through the cracks, and if his party — and the country he helped divide — will be able to recover.
Although, Trump burst through the cracks like the Kool Aid man. It was a cold night in June when the businessman-celebrity hybrid announced his intentions to run for president and, during this same time, the specter of ART was looming upon us.
I feel like most people didn’t take either seriously, and for good reason too. Both ideas are preposterous to the extent that people never thought either would come to fruition.
Yet here we are, stuck in ART construction listening to National Public Radio talk about Trump’s polling numbers. The saddest reality is, in both cases, this is just the beginning.
ART is something which will cause as much traffic during construction as it will after it’s finished, if not more. The same can be said for the Donald who, although he has caused a lot of trouble during his campaign, would only cause more if he is elected.
I shudder at the thought while weeping for the future of my non-existent children in a President Trump world.
One thing I can say about this is that we need to pay more attention. The world has changed around us, and it seems nobody noticed. Because a Trump presidency and a costly transit project based on the idea of “why not?” is not something that could’ve happened before.
Yet here it is. A reality check for the ages. Trump has changed the way America is seen from both the outside and in. He has ripped away a veil upon the very worst notions and ideals that were thought to be erased from this country. That includes, but is not limited to: sexism, racism and every other offensive -ism I can think of.
But it’s not just America as a whole — what Trump has shown us is that we do not understand our neighbors, our friends and even our family.
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I can’t imagine how many friendships and families have broken up over a Trump allegiance, and he’s not even president yet.
Part of me hopes the silver lining in all this is a reality check: now that we have been broken by Trump and by ART, maybe we can make better choices and look closer at what’s happening around us.
Maybe we can build ourselves up out of this ash. I feel like it is through mistakes that we learn the best and most lasting lessons. Well, Trump may be America’s biggest mistake-in-the-making, so let’s not lose the lesson.
Be involved in local politics, be involved in national politics, be involved in society. Don’t allow tunnel vision to consume your life, enabling others to take advantage of that handicap. Let’s not give the benefit of the doubt and depend upon “others” or “America” to stop something bad from happening.
I know that’s why I didn’t take more of a stand against Trump or ART. I thought, “who could go for such a silly idea?”
Well, was I ever wrong, and now all I can do is kick myself and hope that somebody more ingenious or resourceful than me throws a last-minute wrench in the machine.
Trump’s fate rests in the hands of the people now, and only time — two weeks to be exact — will tell if our inattention and apathy comes back to haunt us.
As for ART, it’s the 4th quarter with five seconds on the clock and Albuquerque needs a Hail Mary. The only question is, who’s got the arm to throw it?
Matt Reisen is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @MReisen88. The views expressed in this column are his own.
