We live in an era where it’s impossible not to communicate with one another, no matter where we are. With devices on hand we are able to access the knowledge in the world and communicate with anyone, anywhere, and whenever we want. Despite these ways to connect, we’ve never been more divided than today.
The problem at hand is not a difference in opinions, as they are actually essential for a good democracy. But, our political division has become a dangerous force which threatens the connection of our society as a whole.
Hate between political parties, specifically democrats and republicans, often starts on social media. It is normal for groups to disagree, but it has now turned into personal, mean, and sometimes even violent. A lot of hate comes from social media personas who fuel depictions of other political parties as wrong or hateful.
Personas—such as Candace Owens or Ben Shapiro—argue their points and say things that would make other parties upset. Their goal is to make democrats angry and to uplift their own party instead of trying to come up solutions that benefit both parties.
In turn, people will get angry and disagree and end up with points flying everywhere with no real conclusion on how everyone can come together. This has become a recurring practice that happens every once and a while between parties.
When we see our political parties so divided, it makes us change our perception of each other. We start to believe all people of one party are alike and won’t change. These things may not be true a lot of the time as we tend to forget that some people are normal.
Online debates and hate doesn’t stay online—they also stray into our everyday life. It can change the way in which we behave in real life. Many families avoid talking about politics as it seems to cause a disconnect with families over different opinions.
We are starting to become enemies with the people around us and letting ourselves be told who to hate by the people who make money off of this hate.
What is our best solution to this problem? We can first remember that not all people in real life are represented by radical personas online. We can also try to talk to people with different opinions from our own. It doesn’t have to be just about politics but about normal life, which many people will have things in common with.
