Politics is one of two powerful topics—the other being religion—that are best not discussed, unless with open-minded people. That’s because in 2016 we are so polarized as a nation that we can’t talk about our beliefs for more than five minutes without a knock-out grudge match of why “so-and-so” is wrong and why our beliefs have more value than others.

As millennials, we claim to be open-minded, and our generation is notably more tolerant than generations before us, but regardless of that, we get stuck in the same pattern of persecuting people for their beliefs as our parents did, and their parents did.

You might be thinking, “Well, I’m actually open-minded and have never persecuted someone for their beliefs.” That may be true, but it may not be as black and white as you might think. Have you ever lumped someone into their political party and assumed that since they shared beliefs with [Insert Republicans/Democrats] that they were on the “wrong side” of the debate?

I have, and I’m sure most of you have too. The problem with that is you’re making assumptions about someone, and you know what they say about “assume” (makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me”).

Honestly, if you look at both parties there are merits and downfalls on both sides, whether you’re willing to admit it or not. (I know some people that will never come to this realization, and that’s sad, but hopefully they can get over themselves long enough to try to understand what I’m getting at with this article.)

The point is that it doesn’t matter what party you are in. It doesn’t matter whom you’re voting for in this presidential election. I’m not saying this election isn’t a big deal—it's huge, but ultimately it doesn’t matter who is president. Gasp. “Did she just say that?” Yes, yes I did. Bear with me.

What matters is what we do following the election. If we, as a nation, continue to refuse to compromise, it doesn’t matter who is in office; nothing will change. Instead of focusing on all the areas the parties disagree on, we could choose to focus on what everyone agrees on, and start with that. We all have humanity and want this to be a safe country, yes? We don’t want people dying every day because of a uniform or ethnicity, yes? OK, great.

So let’s start with what we agree on, because no president is going to please everyone. No president is going to be able to fix every problem. But, and here’s the silver lining, we can actually make changes in this country if we stop screaming at each other long enough to actually listen to what both sides are saying. There are good ideas out there, and if we stopped being so divided for a second, we could actually be productive.

I promise this rant isn’t an indictment on any one individual or party; it’s really just a tough love wake-up call. And it’s not anything people don’t know, but sometimes people can be stubborn and need someone to spell it out for them.

So vote your conscience, because some people will agree with you and some won’t, and that’s America in a nutshell. It’s after the voting that we need to really take a close look at what’s important and work together on a mutually beneficial solution to make this country a safe, productive, and happy place to live where differing beliefs are celebrated and not belittled.