Former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is going head to head in what American media are describing as a very tight race with Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Dunedin resident and former Boston, Massachusetts resident Prof Abby Smith said the election had all the ammunition needed to turn the country into complete chaos.
‘‘Like many of us, I’m terrified about this election.
‘‘What could happen is the breakdown of democracy.
‘‘I don’t think Trump winning would be good for democracy, and I don’t think Trump losing would be good for democracy either.’’
Prof Smith said if Trump lost, his supporters might claim it was a rigged election; and if he won, he would continue to divide Americans and there were concerns about what would happen to his perceived enemies.
‘‘They may be preparing for a kind of civil war. I hope not.’’
She said Harris had proven herself to be a person who could work with different groups to reach some kind of consensus, and had ‘‘at least a vestige of some kind of grasp on reality’’.
Asked why Trump was so popular with so many Americans, she said there had been a major shift in American culture over recent decades.
‘‘We have done a great big experiment with social media in our culture, where we have gotten rid of expertise and knowledge as a basis for making decisions.
‘‘The end of rational thought is why.
‘‘People aren’t happy, they want something to change, Donald says he’ll make a change, and they don’t really look at the rest of it.
‘‘There’s a complete lack of critical thinking and analysis.’’
Henley resident and former United States Air Force lieutenant-colonel Tim Ferner said he was not a major fan of Trump or Harris.
‘‘America has a population of almost 500 million and the best it can do is Trump or Harris? That’s pathetic.’’
However, he believed Trump was the lesser of two evils.
‘‘I voted for Trump because of the immigration issue.’’
He said the United States had 11 million to 15 million people living illegally, at the taxpayers’ expense.
‘‘I don't want my US taxes going to supporting illegal aliens. Nobody does.’’
He believed the US was on the verge of financial collapse and neither Trump nor Harris was a fiscal conservative — both would add to the national debt. ‘‘But Trump will secure the border and end some of the wasteful spending,’’ Dr Ferner said.
‘‘Things look bad for Americans, regardless of who wins.’’ He said he, too, was concerned there might be chaos following the election. ‘‘The Democrats labelled Trump as a Nazi. ‘‘If you compare somebody to Hitler, then you have a moral obligation to do anything and everything to defeat that person — including lying, cheating and stealing.
‘‘That's the game plan. Hold on to your hat.’’
Former Texan and Alexandra resident Deborah Beange declined to say which candidate she voted for.
She said Americans were deeply divided by two very different perspectives, but both of them needed to be understood and respected.
‘‘I worry that elected leaders are actually working quite hard to divide people by political party, race, region, gender, etc.
‘‘This isn’t healthy for the country and makes us forget that we’re much more similar to one another than we are different.’’
She expected the race to be very close and court battles were highly likely.
‘‘I have genuine concerns that there will be civil unrest, so that’s a worry.’’
Former Texan, social media influencer and Invercargill resident Danielle Jones said she voted for Harris because she did not like Trump’s ‘‘hate-filled rhetoric’’, particularly towards immigrants.
‘‘It’s really disappointing, especially for a place like the States where there's such a melting pot of people.’’
Dr Jones said it was both interesting and comforting to be watching the election from afar.
‘‘We're kind of on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what will happen, and feeling real thankful to be here and not have to worry about if everything kind of devolves into chaos over there.’’
