Letters: Election confirmed what we’ve become

I have heard lots of people lamenting what life will be like in “Trump’s America.” I also hear people say, “How could anyone vote for him?” The irony is that most of us in America have been voting for “Trump” for the past 36 years.

Whether in the voting booth or out, we have made it clear that our vision of America is a land where we can all be self-centered, selfish, lazy, hedonistic and stupid. “Freedom” has become simply the liberty to acquire more stuff and have someone else protect it, as well as our right to purchase it.

Citizenship is seen as nothing but rights — no responsibility is required anymore. Thirty-six years ago, Trump (or anyone like him) would have been laughed off of the stage both for saying the idiotic things he has said and for acting like an infant.

We weren’t smarter back then, but we had common sense. We knew a con artist when we saw one.

Common sense is shared wisdom, and when we decided to pretend we didn’t need each other, common sense was the first thing to go.

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Letters: Election confirmed what we’ve become."