Disagreements over politics have always kindled within my family. This isn’t something surprising. Nearly everyone I know has a story about family members burning their arguments over the stove that cooks their dinner. I’ve seen my grandmother fall into hot, salty tears while facing the boiling words. It hurts to have to see people who I know love each other, fight over intangible issues that encompass nearly every inch of our world.

Rooms furnaced by yelling mouths, drops of sweat reflecting cherried faces. I would be lying if I said it was not embarrassing to see my adult family members storm out of rooms overhearing that someone disagrees with them. Rather than have a logical discussion, we end up yelling generalizations about groups we do not personally know. I find myself falling into this trap, my feet tingling with warmth as I hear something I know is wrong. That can’t possibly be right. My mouth opens without me realizing. I spew words without realizing I do not know nearly as much as I think I do.

We’re devoured with tales of “snowflakes”, and told every conservative is a racist. The media does more than inform us, it molds our views more than we would ever be able to do ourselves. It is largely unrealistic to assume that every person within a political party has the same ideas, same personalities, same morals. But, justifying our differences by reducing people to specific stereotypes is much easier to swallow. Media outlets know this, feeding on our desire to be correct. Fueling our divergence.

A complex issue is an issue avoided. If we continue to categorize others as simply right or wrong, we cannot explore their perspective. When all of our previous assumptions are burnt to the ground, the facts lay in the rubble.

There will never be one true answer to controversy. Defending our own views is something that we too often value over finding a suitable compromise. Continuing this cycle will lead us nowhere. There’s no need to throw our morals into the fire and abandon them, but taking a step back and hearing someone else, with different experiences and beliefs, could weld together ideas that have always seemed like polar opposites.