How you can help Resolve Partisanship in American Politics
One thing that everyone involved in American politics can agree on is the fact that none of us can agree on anything. Our country is currently divided along party lines, we don’t view each other as Americans, neighbors, friends, or family, we view each other as Republicans or Democrats. It is our views that are right and everyone else is wrong. My views are and ideas are what’s right and everyone who disagrees isn’t informed enough or isn’t intelligent enough to know why I’m right. Some people even see their political opens as pure evil, whether it be Republicans calling all Democrats Communists, or Democrats calling all Republicans racists. No matter what side you’re on, this is something that you’ve at the very least seen. We can’t even agree on things within our own parties anymore either. Some Democrats have accused other Democrats of racism simply for not supporting their solution to a problem, or Republicans claiming any Republican that didn’t vote for Trump in the election is a traitor. The point here is that American Politics is nothing but a messed up cluster of division and narcissism. There is one basic truth that most people don’t realize however, if we keep this up nothing will ever get done. If we refuse to talk to each other and have simple, peaceful debates, it will just result in either a stalemate of no problems ever getting resolved, or it could just escalate tension until the point of another civil war. This country is practically in a Cold Civil War right now, as it is a war fought with ideology instead of weapons. All it takes is a spark to turn this country into a battle ground. So the question is, how can we all work together to reduce partisanship and at least settle down some of the tensions that have caused this Cold Civil War. There are many things we can do to resolve this problem (or at the very least halt it), some of which are obvious and others less so.
One thing we can all do is simply hear other people out. Now of course this sounds like an easy solution, but if it was then why hasn’t it happened yet? That will be explained later, but for now, this is something that everyone can learn to do. When someone disagrees with us politically, all we have to do is show some common courtesy and listen to them explain their opinion. After that you explain your opinion and then from there it’s up to the other person as to what happens, either you two come to an agreement, you agree to disagree, or the other person starts freaking out because you disagreed with them. If the last thing is what happens, then the right choice is to simply walk away. Firing back and creating pointless conflict will only worsen things rather than improve them, and at the very least if you walk away, you’ll at least show others that you are the more mature one for not getting into an overly emotional argument.
Speaking of emotional arguments, don’t get emotional and defensive if someone brings up a point you can’t disprove. To be fair, this is merely a natural human reaction. As humans it is in our psychology that we get emotional when we are unable to justify our beliefs, opinions, or actions. But this is something that we as people need to learn to avoid giving into. There’s nothing wrong with saying “I don’t know” when you can’t explain or disprove something. None of us are experts at everything, and no one is right about everything. Saying “I don’t know” may mean you lose the debate, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to abandon that belief. Simply admit you don’t personally have an answer to that, but other people may. Which leads me into my next point.
Do research on these topics. Whether you lose a debate or want to be prepared in case you get into one, doing research will never hurt. Look up reasons why people support the same ideology as you, and find out if any of them have an answer to the question that resulted in you losing the debate. The same applies to if you want to be ready in the event you get into a debate. The general point is, make sure you understand what you’re arguing before you make an argument. There are countless examples of people on both sides of the aisle who simply don’t know the reason why they support their opinion, they just do. This isn’t even necessarily a bad thing, no one’s an idiot for not knowing everything about a topic, but generally you’d at least want some idea of why you support a specific political opinion.
Another thing we can all do to decrease the political tension in this country is to simply be as objective as possible. Try to understand why the person thinks that way, or has that ideology. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, but at the very least try to see their side of it. In addition to that, being objective so means conceding points where we have to. Both sides nowadays seem to villainize everything about our political opponents and praise every action by our allies. Ultimately the truth of humanity is that every good person does something bad and every bad person does something good. As much as we don’t want to, we have to admit when our political allies do something bad and when our opponents do something good. This is also very important when in debates, as doing either of these things shows the other person that you’re at the very least not blindly following those politicians who you support, and you actually give thought to these political problems.
Getting into some of the more complex stuff, when getting into debates the best way to win one is by not starting by talking about the topic at hand. Instead, start the debate simply by being kind to the person and having a pleasant conversation with them. Show hospitality, find some area of common ground to talk about. Discuss personal interests or hobbies and try to find some ground of commonality. There are several reasons as to why this is the best way to start a debate and it all comes down to psychology again. First off is it establishes yourself as someone they can relate to. If they can relate to you, then they are less likely to get emotional over simple disagreements in opinion. Secondly, by being friendly you’re showing them you aren’t their enemy, you’re just another person living their life in the world. You’re no evil villain or monster trying to make the world a worse place, you’re just like them. In fact, by doing this sometimes the other person may end up just agreeing with you without them even giving their side of the argument. Don’t expect this to happen every time, but it can happen.
Next step is simple, stay away from politics on social media. There is no place where partisanship spreads faster than social media, and this once again goes back to human psychology. When we are in a debate with someone in person, we at the very least see another living, breathing human being in front of us, which makes us less likely to act rudely or rashly. In addition to that, when talking in person we can hear the tone of the person talking to us with. All this is lost when on social media. All we have is a text box telling us what the person said, we have no sense of tone, feeling, or even human presence. Because of this, we are far more likely to simply shift into our emotional defensive state immediately, and that applies for both people involved. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a way around this, as these problems are simply the drawbacks of social media as a platform. Because of that, it is simply better that we avoid getting involved in political debates on social media at all.
The final tip to helping resolve political partisanship is also simple to understand, hard to implement. It’s just an election. Yes, elections are an important part of both American life and our democracy as a whole, but here’s the truth in the end. If a politician we don’t like gets into office, one of two things will happen, either they actually do a decent job, or they do terrible. If it’s the latter, then what happens next is simple, they aren’t reelected in the next election. It’s as simple as that. Just because someone we don’t like gets into office doesn’t mean its the end of the world, and once again, this applies to both sides. Even if the politician in question is a radical in their party, if they don’t do a good job then they won’t get reelected. We may lose on election but they’ll always be another, unless we continue to add fuel to the fire that is American Politics. If you want to continue having elections in this country, if you want things to remain peaceful and you want this country to come together not as political opponents, but as Americans, then please at least consider some of the tips mentioned in this list. And maybe if enough of us do work towards a less partisan America, then maybe we can actually start resolving some of the major problems that our country is facing.
