By Luke Mills
In recent weeks, the world has watched America with anticipation as its citizens turned out in record numbers to vote and have their voices heard. With the election over and done with and a new president set for the White House, we can now ask - what will the upcoming years hold for America?
Described by some as a ‘joke’, Donald Trump’s presidency has been nothing short of tumultuous and at times, terrifying. For millions of Americans, the past four years have been deemed a time of darkness and division for the country - with it becoming more and more polarised by the day. But now, there is hope for this split country as Democratic Party Leader Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have been declared the new President and Vice President of the USA. So, what exactly are Biden’s plans for America?
Let’s start with an issue that has perhaps been overshadowed this year by coronavirus but is still very much a prominent threat - climate change. Unlike the denial of this issue by his predecessor, Biden recognises the severity of the climate crisis and has already laid out his ideas as to how America can work to tackle the problem. It is said that he will re-enter the US into the Paris Climate Change Agreement as well as making sure ‘the US achieves a 100% clean energy economy’ by 2050. Notably, these policies are starkly different to the ones of Trump who once claimed global warming is ‘a hoax’. The Biden-Harris presidency believes they can reverse the damage made by Trump and kick start urgent change on how America combats global warming.
Of course, it would be impossible to talk about a presidential campaign in 2020 without discussing coronavirus. With a staggering 11 million cases, America is the country with the most cases of coronavirus worldwide; there’s no doubt that Trump’s chaotic response to the pandemic played a major role in this. Now, Biden aims to beat COVID-19 by improving the test and trace system, enforcing mask mandates and ensuring vaccines (when found) will be distributed fairly to all Americans. Will these changes see the coronavirus cases finally begin to fall?
But there is another epidemic spreading through America according to the president elect - a ‘violence epidemic’. Every year, a shocking 40,000 people die from injuries caused by firearms which is inexplicably linked to the fact an estimated 393 million guns are owned by civilians. Biden hopes to see the number of firearm related deaths fall significantly under his presidency with the introduction of several new policies. These include banning the sale of assault weapons, restricting the number of firearms a person can buy a month, introducing background checks for gun sales and much more. For decades, firearm violence has been a major issue in the US but could these policies finally bring an end to this?
On 20th January 2021, Biden is set to be inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. For the next four years, the world will again closely watch to see if he can unify a divided America and provide much needed, strong leadership for its citizens.
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