Politics.

Ugh.

That is the immediate reaction many Americans have to the word, and for very good reason.

I could talk for hours upon hours about the specific problems that our country faces politically.

But right now I'd like to talk about a general problem. A problem that all of us, unwittingly or otherwise, contribute to - but that we all have the possibility to help solve:

Hatred of the other side.

Now, I live on a college campus. There are a wide range of political views on my campus, and I am personally friends with everyone from an actual Communist to a die-hard Trumpian to everything in-between (well, okay, not everything. I haven't befriended any Nazis yet; a trend I hope to maintain).

"But ah," the metaphorical "they" say. "Being a Trump supporter and being a Nazi are the same thing!"

"You can't be T'd off once you've teed off." If you get this reference, I love you.

And that is precisely the problem. There are many, too many, who demonize their ideological opponents. Who refuse to see Democrats as anything other than selfish crybabies who want the government to fix all their problems, or who refuse to see Republicans as anything other than rich, racist white pigs who merely want to prevent the oppressed in America from getting their fair share.

Be honest with yourself.

Did you, when reading that paragraph, say in the back of your mind "okay, well maybe not all [Democrats/Republicans] are like that, but most of them are."

Because I did. Or, at least, that was my knee-jerk reaction.

Here's the problem: if that is all we see those of opposing viewpoints to be, we subconsciously are predisposed against even hearing what they have to say, let alone being open minded to it.

But at the same time, very few of us are so prideful as to assert that we know all the answers with absolute certainty, and those who do are, well, overly prideful. None of us has all the answers, and sometimes your ideological or political opponents might see something you don't see.

Here's the thing.

We all - Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, Libertarian, Populist, whatever - we all ultimately want what is best for America. I might normally add the caveat "with some exceptions" here, but to do so would defeat the purpose, because it would give everyone who wanted to reckon some particular group as not wanting what's best for America the ability to do so.

95% of our country wants what is best for our country. They might have different ideas of what is best, or how to achieve what's best, but they do all have the same desire to see America prosper. And don't assume that the five selfish percent reside mostly or solely with the other party. If you're willing to see them among your own ranks, you'll see them.

But that's the problem: most people aren't willing to see. It's much easier to define politics as "us versus them", and most of us do it subconsciously. It isn't completely our fault either. The state of both traditional and social media encourages such easy, yet destructive, simple views of the other side.

Social Media Influence

Pages of Facebook like Being Conservative and Being Liberal (I'm not putting links here because they don't deserve it) routinely post memes that show one-sided statistics, show the worst elements of the other side, makejokes at the expense of the what the other side believes, and never, EVER, post something that makes someone on the other side look like a decent human being who is just doing his or her best to do what he or she believes is right.

And as for politicians, what is more likely to get votes? Calmly and respectfully debating the merits of different policy proposals? Or demonizing the other guy and making the idea of him winning so unpalatable that they must vote for you. Its easier to make people angry than it is to make them think.

Now, I'm not arguing that they necessarily are right. But they are acting in a way that the truly believe will yield the best results for their country.

That is something we all share. That is our common ground. And if we could all just get together and respectfully discuss why we believe what we believe, we could find even more common ground. We could find ways to compromise, and where we are wrong-as we all inevitably are in some capacity-we could figure out where we are wrong, and genuinely consider alternate options.

Light Side & Dark Side

That's the light side of politics. It is the stronger side, and Washington has always worked more efficiently when the two sides were willing to work together (or when there was only one side, but even then it wasn't a sure thing).

But the dark side: the one that mutters "damn the [insert some group of people]s" under its breath. The side that makes snarky comments at the expense of people and ideas that they disagree with. The side that automatically assumes anyone with different beliefs has the worst possible intentions, that refuses to see the genuine compassion that all of us have for our country, even if we express it in different ways...

The "dark side" is quicker, easier, and more seductive.

As things stand right now, we are not "One Nation, Under God, Indivisible." We are One Nation, Under God, Divided as all Hell.

So what can we do?

I'm not naive enough to believe that everyone will just magically give up their negative view of their ideological opponents. I doubt it will ever go away; humans are lazy, and they are predisposed towards picking the lazy option.

But in any individual instance, I, you, anyone - can make the choice to be open-minded. I don't claim to be an expert at this by any definition of the word "expert," but I do know that I am a conservative, and at least four of my close friends are staunchly liberal.

We aren't able to be friends in spite of our political differences; we're able to be friends because of it.

Three of the people I have in mind I met over a political discussion. Rather than getting angry at one another, we listened to each other, and both left with a better understanding of the other side, and in some cases, even changing sides on a given issue.

Not everyone has to believe in the goodness of those on the other side of the aisle. If those people that others look up, to politically agree to treat one another with respect; to resist the temptation to make their supporters angry at the other side for a quick surge in political capital, we would all benefit from the work they could get done working together instead of against each other.

So what am I actually suggesting? I have no idea, actually. I guess the main things are:

1. Be respectful in your own life

2. When possible, vote for people who are respectful too. It might not seem at first like they have the strength to get the cogs of Washington running again, but if everyone had been like them to begin with, those cogs never would have stopped running at all.