It's official: Donald Trump -- real-estate tycoon and producer of the American reality TV show The Apprentice -- will become the 45th president of the United States. Even over a week after the election results were announced, America is still in turmoil, with protests (and in some cases even riots) by people who disapprove of Trump and his disturbing campaign rhetoric breaking out all across the country. Along with news of these protests comes alarming reports of a spiked increase in racist and discriminatory crimes being committed, as Trump supporters of varying ages and genders come out to express their pent-up bigotry.
Like a lot of people, I was left dumbfounded by the fact that Donald Trump will actually become the President of the United States. Simply typing that last sentence feels unreal, even with the time that's passed since the election results were announced. After all, this was a man who publicly admitted to tax evasion, called an entire ethnic group "rapists", and suggested the banning of an entire religious minority from setting foot on American soil again. I mean, people have been fired from jobs they already hold over less.
To be clear, I'm not trying to criticise or pass judgement on Trump's capabilities as president. As far as I know, he could actually turn out to be a boon to his country, what with his promise of bringing jobs back to millions of disenfranchised blue-collar Americans. That said, Trump's victory over his opponents does present a rather troubling trend I've noticed in 2016, which is that of brash, aggressive -- even arguably corrupt -- individuals being rewarded with very high-ranking positions.
Sure, there are many moving parts in politics, and nothing is ever simply black and white. But what does it say about us that we simply let our leaders get away with these things without so much as a slap on the wrist? More importantly, what are we going to tell our children when they see these powerful, supposedly respected men commit such unseemly acts? Can we really tell them it is better to be respectful of all races and genders, when their president spouts such hateful things about minorities?
Be it Prayut, Duterte or Trump, each has said and done things that, frankly, have left me wondering how it is that any of them have managed to gain such a following in the first place. (Okay, technically we didn't let Prayut in, but we effectively voted to let him stay in power -- even over an elected government -- in the referendum.)
As we all know, our very own General Prayut Chan-o-cha does have a knack for losing his temper, as evidenced by such antics as threatening to throw a podium at a journalist, threatening to punch a journalist in the mouth when he asked the General to give some examples of his government's achievements, and a plethora of other very public outbursts. He also has a knack for silencing his opposition, labelling those with differing opinions as troublemakers and bribe-takers. And let's not forget his comment about how giving Thai women equal rights as men will lead to the dissolution of Thai society. Not the best example of emotional control and openness to opinion.
Duterte, meanwhile, is notorious for his bloody and legally dubious "shoot-first-ask-later" policy when it comes to drugs. Also notorious is his liberal use of curses and insults, the most notable concerning former US President Barack Obama, who he called a "son of a whore". Not cool.
So instead of inspiring role models for the next generation to follow, we have to cover our children's ears when these people speak on television. Instead of figures we can tell our children to aspire to, we have to constantly and perhaps more arduously explain to them why they can't act like the president or prime minister. And when they ask us why we let these people lead us when they're so bad? Well, good luck finding an answer.
Kanin Srimaneekulroj is a feature writer of the Life section of the Bangkok Post.