16-year-old Lola Kadas explains why President Trump is failing the American dream
Like many, I have often imagined myself living in the United States – the land of the free, where millions work towards the American dream. However, Trump’s version of America makes me question whether I still want to live there in the future. Let me explain.
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What exactly has happened to that dream? For some, including myself, Trump’s second term as president raises both questions and concerns.
Women’s rights are something that I am very passionate about, so seeing how they have been endangeredby the Trump administration has been difficult. Specifically, he has attacked reproductive rights with what US pro-abortion group Reproductive Freedom for All describesas an “aim to ban abortion nationwide and roll back access to reproductive health care by any means necessary”.
During his first term, Trump consistently acted against gender equality. He limited access to birth control, undermined efforts to close the pay gap between women and men, and weakened the law banning sex discrimination in public education. This raises the question of how he is going to approach women’s rights now, in his second term.
In 1948, as a response to World War II, the United Nations set up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to protect human rights across the world. However, Trump has shown a clear disinterest in these fundamental principles. Especially when it comes to article 2 – “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms… without distinction”; and article 23 – “everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.”
Unfortunately, though, it seems to me that the 13 billionaires Trump picked to be a part of his administration don’t place much importance on human rights either. Making the wealthiest man on the planet, Elon Musk, head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) is a bold decision to make, considering that Musk has no previous experience in politics.
Interestingly, Musk spent $270m helping Trump return to the White House. So was the tech mogul just being a very generous friend, or did he seek personal gain from this development? Only time will tell.
It is ironic that Trump has selected Musk, a South African immigrant, to work as a top official, given his administration’s harsh stanceon immigration.
As a first-generation American with immigrant parents from Hungary, I care deeply about how migrants are treated in the US.
It is clear that the previous president and his administration were focused on treating people with compassion. While in office, President Biden issued an executive orderthat praised immigrants, saying they have “helped strengthen America’s families, communities, businesses and workforce, and economy, infusing the United States with creativity, energy, and ingenuity”.
In contrast, Trump issued an executive order that describedillegal immigrants as part of an ”invasion” of the US. Not only that, but his harsh policiescalling for mass deportations led to 1,000 people being removed or repatriated after he had been in office for just four days.
Overall, Trump’s new administration has left me – and many other young teens – feeling anxious about the future. I am disappointed that somewhere that has served as a place where I thought my dreams and goals would be fulfilled has become a place where there are more individuals discriminated against than not.
Despite this, young people have the power to shape what happens next if we fight for it. We can reclaim what the American dream is all about and ensure that it is available to everyone, not just a privileged few.
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