America is currently the most divided it has been in a very long time. Politics invade our everyday lives now whether we like it or not, so most people "pick a side" as left-leaning or right-leaning. Picking sides has inevitably created a war of ideas and opinions. Both sides like to believe they are taking the more ethical stances on most issues, and obviously, that can always be debated, but the way each side argues their stances are often in the wrong. I'm going to tell you what issues I have with left-leaning people when it comes to dealing with people with different views.

We can all agree that there are very unethical people existing on both sides of the political spectrum, but to typecast and entire political party as evil is not the way to go about changing people's minds. I can admit as a left-leaning person (as you can tell by my previous articles) that I've had this attitude in the past. While I complained about conservatives not looking at things from our perspective, I did not let go of enough of my stubbornness to really take a look at their perspective. I absolutely am not admitting that I have had some sort of "ah-ha!" moment and suddenly agree with them, but I am starting to understand why some people feel the way that they do. And it is important that we all do this in any situation.

I am not going to sit here and tell you that the republican party is full of completely misunderstood, innocent, compassionate people, but everyone else does need to take a look at why republicans feel the way that they do the same way that republicans need to look at why democrats feel the way that they do. There is definitely a lot of hate coming from the right, but it is important to keep in mind they were likely raised that way, or they have never been exposed to the perspectives and/or struggles of those they hate. Perspective. Is. Important. Hate is learned and it can be unlearned as well. Tomi Lahren is a white woman from North Dakota, so yeah, she's not going to understand the struggles that Black Lives Matter is fighting for, and might view them as causing trouble for no reason. But she's not going to change her mind by receiving more hate comments on her videos. If she had an open-minded conversation with another open-minded person with differing views, there is more room for progress there.

This is not an article about sympathizing with conservatives for a lot of the damage they have caused in people's lives, but it is emphasizing that they are real people who have formed real opinions that won't be changed by simply attacking them as people. This strategy is called 'ad hominem' and they teach it in English classes as one of the worst ways to persuade someone. Not only will you be taken less seriously, but they're not going respond positively at all. I understand that marginalized groups have faced years of oppression from these people, and that's where a lot of the frustration and anger comes from, but it is important to keep a fresh perspective on things. Following the trend of hating the opposite party of the one you most align with doesn't get us anywhere. In order to make progress, we have to open up dialogue from both sides and try to understand one another rather than continuing this never ending war. Start a conversation to understand, don't always jump to judge.