As President Trump stunned the world by defeating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, many Americans began imagining what their life would look like under a Trump administration. In the days leading up to the 2018 midterms, we asked people if they were better off now than they were two years ago.
I haven't been this politically active probably in 15 or 20 years ... but I'm not doing it from a place of being energized. I guess I'm doing it from a place of fear. I wish it was exuberance, but it's not.
-Harold, a resident of Somerville, admits that his recent surge in political activism comes from a place of fear, not excitement.
We have had in this country turbulent times before ... Nixon, the Vietnam War ... I have great belief in the American system when it really comes down to the facts and America, I think, will survive.
-Cecil, a resident of Boston, says that despite the tumultuous state of the nation, America will survive.
I don't think we need shock waves right now. I hope blue states don't turn red and red states don't turn blue ... I think a little bit of normalcy, a fulfilling of expectations, would be nice.
-Carl, a resident of South Boston, recounts how he initially thought ideologues like Bernie Sanders and President Trump were refreshing, but now craves a sense of normalcy in American politics.
I find myself thinking a lot about how I cannot totally dismiss people who might not live where I live, believe the things that I believe, while also denouncing these feelings of intolerance and hate that seem to have bubbled to the surface.
-Brielle, a resident of Boston, reflects on how she has become more aware of other thoughts and opinions that may differ from her own.
