It would be far too simple to make statements regarding the nature of Donald Trump. Too simple to cover all the horrific things the man has said and done from his campaign days, to today. Rather, what I wish to talk about is what we have learned about the people that are around us. What we have learned about our friends, family, co-workers, and society as a whole. I have no doubt that this topic has been covered before and likely for more articulately then I will now, but I think it is still important to discuss. So what have we learned?

We have, sadly, learned is that our society is filled with individuals that are dangerously willing to accept racism, sexism, and xenophobia, from a man that is meant to be a leader. We have seen during conversations, on social media posts, and in the news, millions of Americans defending a man who is a moral monster. We have seen these people defend the imprisonments of children, his praise of white nationalists, his defense of authoritarians, and his condemnation of his detractors using lies and misinformation.

Too often the hardest part of the defense of Trump is due to its origins. The defense coming from people who we all know too well. We see individuals who we believed to be rational, well meaning, friends and family, putting aside all reason to come to Trumps defense. That, or we have seen them drawing from a well of hate and intolerance that has been growing and bubbling up on the internet. In recent days we have seen these people making arguments, posting pictures, and sharing videos, that propound a hateful message toward minorities. A hateful message toward those that would ask all people to hold this Nations foundational principles.

Holding up these ideas, as those that are closest to us have been, has put into focus an ugly side of the people we thought we knew the best. What have we learned from Trump? We have learned that the people around us as far more racist, hateful, and bigoted, then we could have possible imagined. We have learned that the people around us are perfecting willing to sacrifice others for their own comfort. We have learned how deeply pathetic the American psyche has become when its people so willingly hold onto selfishness and hate, rather then open their minds to truth.