Melbourne, AUSTRALIA – Why do you care? You’re halfway across the world. It doesn’t even affect you. Stop wasting your time.
These are all things that Americans might say to an Australian about their amusing presidential election.
But no need to get so defensive. There are good reasons as to why an Aussie would be interested in this free entertainment.
The first is for practical reasons. Middle and working class Australians are facing a daily battle with the increasingly unbearable cost of living.
A certain someone running for the American presidency makes himself quite well known for his harsh foreign policies and tariffs, and, with the consideration that all our economies are interlinked in the global market today, there is a good chance that the failing Australian economy may not be able to escape his policies unscathed.
What’s more is that the influence of the United States is vast. Being second in line to the title of the largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world, the country plays a large role in climate and change and frankly, has the potential to turn the tide.
Not to mention what the U.S. can do if it were to be involved in regional conflicts.
The second is because we’re Aussies. Mateship and brotherhood are our values. It makes me sit with discomfort knowing that there are friends with a uterus who have their reproductive rights restricted under government officials with the audacity to believe they can control what half the population can do with their body.
It pains me to know that there are friends that fear for their lives nearly every day, just because they’re going to school.
It’s disgusting knowing that immigrants, people seeking a better future for themselves and their family, are dehumanized as “illegal aliens” in the ridiculous Project 2025.
The notion that one race or ethnicity is better than another is not only outdated and overused, but simply morally and scientifically wrong.
On top of that, voting in general is an issue as well. How can the true opinion of Americans be expressed if a whole third of the population isn’t voting?
And lastly, not a single soul who regularly uses social media could have escaped seeing the remix of the famed “they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats.”
The internet has made America the laughingstock of the year with Donald Trump’s face plastered on top of it all.
Plus, the endorsements of Kamala Harris by the likes of Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish have brought the world’s attention to the election. So who wouldn’t be tempted to waste time watching it unfold?
Katherine Phan is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
