Sitting in Guatemala, closely following live election results on our laptop via VPN. The night feels filled with anxiety, a sense of déjà vu from 2016. Fast forward to the morning, and I wake up to the sounds of chicken buses, birds, street vendors at the local fruit market, and an announcement of Trump’s victory. What follows is a flood of emotions, raising many existential questions—a desperate need to make sense of what seems, to most, like an entirely nonsensical choice.

The optimist in me cannot fully accept that Trump’s victory is a mandate for hate, bigotry, and misogyny (though the latter may be true). Immigrants, Latinos, Muslims, women, all voted for him. I believe his win is less about hatred and more about a vote for simplicity, fear, and ignorance. He offers the masses simple choices in an increasingly complex world. In an era where people consume news from quick soundbites, social media reels, and influencers, there’s little room left for deep analysis or critical thinking. As attention spans dwindle, and complexity rises, fewer people are willing to invest time in research or nuanced understanding. Yes, historically, the masses weren’t reading Aristotle or Plato, but the current climate marks a growing disregard for intellectuals who once distilled complex ideas for the public. The importance of history, critical thinking, and careful research is slipping away. We’re trapped in our own echo chambers of ignorance.

Trump has a unique gift for articulating non-intellectual thoughts. He simplifies complex ideas, policies, ideologies, and laws into single-line (often hate) slogans that resonate with his audience. He promises a return to simpler times, nostalgic to many in a rapidly growing and changing world. His buffet table of hate offers everyone something to fear, someone to blame and feed their deep-rooted insecurities.  No longer are people voting fearlessly; they’re voting out of fear—fear of Muslims, immigrants, feminists, gays, China, Zionists, or the unborn fetus. Trump simplifies the world’s problems and presents even more oversimplistic solutions.

Credit where credit is due: in a world where success is measured by social media followers, likes, and TRP ratings, Trump is a star. When a star is born, they can take good causes forward by quantum leaps. The power of celebrity propelled important causes forward, as seen with figures like Gandhi, Mandela, and Nehru. Similarly evil stars are also born, using their celebrity status to propel negativity (fascism, hate, bigotry) but their influence ends with them. Ideologies like Nietzche, RSS, white supremacy have existed long before Hitler, Modi and Trump. But they only gained momentum due to the star factor of these leaders. Just as the Nazi ideology died with Hitler, I believe that after leaders like Trump and Modi, their followers will struggle to carry on their hate-driven legacies in the same way. Many politicians are riding the wave with Trump but on their own can still not carry this message of hate forward.  A good example being Ron De Santis, or Advani in India. These are opportunists who survive on a parasitic relationship to the host but will flip or wither away when the star dies.

Just as this election seals Trump’s victory, it also finally marks his end, NOV 2028.  Just as a star is born……a star also dies.