American expats in Belgium on the US election: Spencer Jolly
With election day in the US looming, American citizens both at home and abroad are concerned with the potential outcome. Belga spoke with five American expats living in Belgium to understand how their views of the US have changed during their time abroad.
Spencer Jolly, a 35-year-old physicist from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is among the Americans living in Belgium who are following the election closely but through a different lens. Having moved to Europe nearly a decade ago, Jolly’s experiences in Germany, France and now Brussels have shifted how he engages with American politics and the election cycles.
Media cycles
Living outside the US, Jolly says his exposure to the 24-hour news cycle has been significantly reduced, which, as he puts it, “cut down on my active engagement in political discussions”.
However, that has not removed him entirely from the ongoing dialogues on US politics. His Belgian colleagues frequently ask about American issues, from Trump to healthcare to gun control.
“I have seen the US through colleagues’ eyes and have to answer the most common questions about Trump, Afghanistan, gun control, etc,” he says. Being a new parent and having family in the US have heightened his concerns about issues like healthcare, paid parental leave and gun violence. These topics, he says, “are things I am more acutely aware of and highlight how bad the situation is in the US”.
"Climate change is an issue for everyone everywhere, so in Europe it is mostly framed differently"
While many of the political issues he discusses, such as healthcare, work smoothly in Europe, he says European colleagues have difficulty understanding why similar systems can’t work in the US.
There are common concerns like climate change, which Jolly sees as a shared focus: “Climate change is an issue for everyone everywhere, so in Europe it is mostly framed differently, focusing more on what one can and should do on a local level.”
Despite his distance from the US, Jolly actively seeks out “trusted” sources for news to stay updated on American issues and when it comes to his voting decision, he’s clear about his support for Kamala Harris: “There is no other sensible option and it isn't even close. I also enjoy the positivity of their campaign.”
“Politics in Belgium for me is just very chaotic"
Navigating Belgian politics presents its own challenges for Jolly. “Politics in Belgium for me is just very chaotic, making it much more difficult for me to understand the motivations people have and how people make decisions,” he says.
While the multi-party landscape offers voters more options, he finds that policies and priorities can shift significantly depending on the locality. “It matters much more who the individual candidates are,” Jolly says. “I don’t know when or if I will have the right to vote in Belgium, but for the moment, I only really follow the most local politics to me.”
From his new vantage point abroad, Jolly keeps a foot in both worlds: staying invested in the US election with an informed yet evolving perspective while also navigating the complex political landscape of Belgium.
(MOH)
Spencer Jolly © PHOTO REGINALD MAZYO
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