In this day and age, political tensions are at one of the highest points they've ever been. The paradigm of left and right, blue and red, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican has intensified and become even more polarized than in any other time in history. When I hear about a divided political issue, one of the first images that pops into my head is the series of commercials for Twix about picking left or right Twix. No matter what anyone says, the people in charge of these two factories are so set in their way of thinking that they automatically perceive any statement about the two candies being equal as wrong. While a slightly comical depiction, these commercials are not that far from the truth, are they?
As someone whose career aspirations fall in the realm of law and politics, a question that I always seem to get is, "Are you liberal or conservative?" Today, I'd like to answer that question once and for all. The truth is, I am neither; I genuinely loathe this dichotomy that our political system has evolved into. This is the answer that I give most people, but it is not usually too well received. Most of the time, I am countered with another question along the lines of: "What, are you just too afraid to offend people that you won't pick a side?" This sentiment could not be further from the truth if it tried hard. I will step on anybody's toes if it means that I can spread what I believe to be the truth. Now, this is not to say I will go out of my way to offend someone; that is when politics becomes ethically wrong. That being said, I absolutely will not bend my viewpoints unless someone retorts me with a case that I can see eye-to-eye with.
Now that I've explained how I think on a political platform, I'd like to pose a question that I've never been able to fully make sense of: if you do believe in the two-party system, why are people of one side so quick to demonize people of the other side?
I would like to think that the reason we have such grandiose and drawn out politics is that every single one of us genuinely cares about our country and the direction it is headed. Now, on a more down-to-earth level, it is rather obvious where our differences in political opinions come from. Every difference we have in general originates from the fact that we are literally different people; we were raised differently, we have seen different things, we have different values; we are just different.
I think this is something we should all keep in mind when we set out to voice our political opinions. It would be almost absurd for someone to hold a political belief simply because he or she believe it would be counterproductive to our society, so when you hear someone say something that doesn't align with what you think, remember to give them respect, even if they are not doing the same. Odds are, they are used to this same system of hate just as much as you are, and they just have not had this thought yet. As someone whose career aspirations are in the political field, I do not think there's anything else I could ask of you that is more important.
