The 21st century is the age of globalization, the internet and social media , which has made it easier for us to communicate, but also, exponentially harder. With millions of voices surrounding us at once, how do we decide, politically, what we agree with? We go to one side of an issue and we stick to it.
I, along with my many millennial friends have fallen trap to this. Why? It’s far too easy to stay on one extreme side of the line when the center becomes murky. It’s a game of tug-of-war between political views, and it’s inevitable that sometimes you won’t fall on the same side as your friends.
Maintaining a healthy relationship with people close to you who are on a different side of the political spectrum can be difficult in our increasingly polarized world, but it is possible. There have been times I have questioned friendships with people that share drastically different political values than I, but in these times ,I remember three things:
One: You became friends for a reason. You likely share the same basic morals and interests; you picked this human to spend time with, and whomever they voted for was not a factor in this decision.
Two: Differences make the world interesting. It would be incredibly dull to have everyone around you constantly agree with your opinions. Disagreements are stimulating, and expose you to the sides of an issue you may have never considered before.
Disagreeing, even arguing, with your friends pushes you out of our one-source news world. It’s like always watching MSNBC, and changing the channel to watch FOX News for a bit. Being exposed to different views enables you see the other side of an issue.
Three: It’s important for us to not become our parent’s generation. Our current government is divided strictly down the aisle, rarely willing to look across, rarely looking to compromise. It’s important for us to become elected representatives that look to the other side and to become the public that demands that our representatives do this. Being able to have friends with drastically different views from you is a good start to this.
Our generation might be coming closer to compromise than our parent’s. We are politically active and politically aware, yet recognize we share similarities even with those we have differences with. We must continue.