This political campaign has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. Stakes are high, and as election day draws nearer, the arguments on both sides become more and more heated. As I scroll through my Facebook feed, I cannot help but notice the countless accusations, propaganda videos, and hatred stemming from each end of the political spectrum. Fights between friends and families are commonplace during this season and likewise, it is normal to see name-dropping and unfounded assumptions taking place if someone is to publicly profess their political views. Unlike elections in previous years, a tangible hatred amidst the two parties has been separating and lumping people into categories between which there is no middle ground. Those who support Hillary or Trump find themselves pitted against one another, rather than simply allowed to express an opinion which they have the right to.

Recently, I have experienced this situation countless times. Both my family and friends have become divided on the issue of politics over the past year. I oftentimes find myself concealing my opinions for fear that I will offend someone or cause someone to not like me simply based on who I am voting for. Rather than seeing shades of truth and opinion, there appears for every person to be an obvious right and wrong choice in this election season. While I oftentimes fall victim to this mindset, we can become so caught up in deeming the opposing candidate as wrong, that we fail to see the failures of our own party or even the benefits of the opposition.

Because of the language, responses, and attitudes presented during this election season, it has become okay for people to respond to political debates with one another with hostility rather than through intelligent discourse. Rather than listening to one another to come to a compromise, we have resorted to speaking loudly, often yelling at one another. On each side, the candidates have increasingly turned to pointing out the flaws in one another as opposed to promoting their own visions.

What does this say about the changing mindset within our country? Are we creating a society in which we have to speak the loudest to get our opinions heard? In almost every setting, I can easily see how the leaders of our country have inevitably had an effect on the attitude of the American individual. Near-sighted responses and the attitude that your opinion is undeniably the right opinion has seemed to pervade the minds of each and every one of us. Rather than seeing ourselves as joint members of one nation, we have divided among artificial lines that direct who we can associate with.

People have become so quick to attack when they hear of who you are voting for that they fail to listen to what personal values you are basing your beliefs off of. For many, there is not a set guideline of republican or democratic views that dictate who they are voting for. Rather, their opinion is based on their journeys in life and what they believe to be the most important values America should uphold. Rather than irrationally jumping on one another this election season, we should see what we can learn from both sides of this crazy election.