Red or blue. Democrat or Republican. Liberal or conservative.
The society we live in prefers to live in and operate in absolutes, leaving little to no room to exist peacefully in the area between — in the gray area. This holds especially true in the realm of politics.
Polarization is normal, but as we leave the 2024 election, it is important to learn to see people, not just their vote.
According to the European Center for Populism Studies, political polarization can refer to the “divergence of political attitudes to ideological extremes.”
American political scientist Emilia Palonen, in her article Political Polarisation and Populism in Contemporary Hungary, writes that it is a political tool whose purpose is to create divisions, or frontiers, between the concept of us and them.
Polarization in politics, in one way or another, does make our lives simpler.
It clarifies the core beliefs and values of different political groups, making it easier for us to understand where different political parties stand on key issues.
The clear distinctions and boundaries political polarization creates also increase voter turnout. When we know where the feet of our political party and the one we oppose stand, we become passionate and eager to step into the polls and allow our voices to be heard.
It even creates a sense of identity. If we know what and who we stand for, we know what our values are; if we know what our values and convictions are, then we know ourselves.
Political polarization, though normal and even beneficial, holds the ability to affect our social relationships negatively. When we become resolute on political issues, especially hot topics like abortions and gun violence, we find it hard to socialize with anyone who holds a viewpoint different from our own. Rather than seeing people, we only see their votes, and we form assumptions about people from them.
We inevitably distance ourselves from anyone and everyone who disagrees with us until people who do are all that remain. By doing so we create our own echo chamber, which, according to GFC Global, is “an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own.”
Living in echo chambers, leads to the spread of misinformation, limits our ability to think critically, and unironically — exacerbates political polarization.
We are living in a perpetual state of social fragmentation, subconsciously barring ourselves from meeting and interacting with certain groups of people. But we cannot live in this place forever. Not only will our ability to think critically disappear, but our relationships and our ability to cultivate and maintain them will suffer too.
One way we can move beyond seeing people as a vote is by educating ourselves — do your research. All the research skills our teachers taught us in elementary school were not meant to stay there, we were always meant to bring them here with us, into adulthood. Look at multiple sources, and not just the ones that share your perspective. Look at the ones that you disagree with, the ones that make your blood boil, then unpack them.
To move beyond political polarization, we also have to consider the fact that we may be wrong. Maybe what you believe harms rather than protects. Maybe it ostracizes rather than uplifts. If it does, ask yourself why and be willing to change it.
Learn to ask questions.
We tend to shut ourselves down when we meet someone who does not share our perspective, but we need to learn to ask questions instead. Keep the conversation going. Ask them what their values are and why they believe what they believe. Ask if they would ever consider changing their opinion or if they would be willing to hear yours.