Following the 2024 presidential election, I wrote a piece in my high school paper about why I believe political differences should impact friendships. In it, I wrote that when political choice threatens others’ basic rights, that’s no longer a small disagreement; it’s a serious moral divide. If someone supports a candidate who refuses to respect people’s humanity, it’s hypocritical to insist that all political differences deserve respect. And if someone recognizes the harm but still chooses to ignore it, they’re condoning hatred and intolerance. To this point, I stated that I could coexist with people I disagree with on major issues, but real friendships can’t be built upon a cycle of agreeing to disagree.
I now take a different perspective; in hindsight, I realize my stance to be somewhat closed-minded, and perhaps even pointless.
No matter how much someone might agree or disagree with you doesn’t actually matter. The basis of this argument does nothing to improve the social implications of politics at present and contributes absolutely nothing to improve the state of politics itself; it fails to engage with the problem. All it really succeeds in doing is giving people permission not to challenge their own views along with their views of the other side. In our polarized state, what we are in dire need of comes down to two simple things: pluricentric conversations and empathy.
In American society, we are divided by epistemic bubbles — types of social structures that fuel exclusion by omission, through natural ideological homogeneity. We belong to — and move through — our own separate communities, which leads to confirmation bias, and at worst, misinformation and isolation. Ideological differences fuel extreme polarization, as we can see in present-day politics. The most dangerous form of this polarization, arguably, is psychological polarization, when people doubt the values of the other side. And I am guilty of this, as seen in my previous article.
In some cases, polarization doesn’t harm the function of a democratic nation, so long as there is not only peaceful coexistence but also trust and empathy between and across the political divide. And obviously, this is easier said than done; I still believe that central to this country’s politics in the present day is the disavowal of the rights of the many marginalized individuals in this country whose voices are suppressed — and certain voters are standing on the wrong side of a stark moral divide. Yet, I am still working on my own open-mindedness. Denying the humanity of voters with different political views is wrong, even when we disagree, and more importantly, it undermines the fundamentals of democracy.
Democratic citizens need to be able to work together, regardless of their stances on certain issues. A healthy democracy depends on discourse rather than the imposition of will, and it thrives when we engage in pluricentric conversations — bringing in multiple perspectives rather than isolating ourselves in harmful echo chambers. Fundamental to democracy is diversity — not just in race, culture, and religion, but in thought. So, of course, we will inevitably disagree on many beliefs and policies, but isn’t that the point?
I recently received a unique piece of advice in a video lecture from Graduate School of Education professor of history of education Jonathan Zimmerman: Every day, consume a news source that was not curated for you; otherwise, your worldview will remain unchallenged. To understand the world, we must understand those who are different from us. We must work to overcome our biases, and at the root of the problem of political divisiveness and polarization is, not surprisingly, the individual.
So when you find yourself sitting at the dinner table over winter break with that “crazy” uncle, and the topics of reproductive rights and immigration come up, try to have some empathy. And understand that, while hard to believe, it is still possible to hold shared values even with wildly opposing views. Everyone understanding this and acting accordingly is the only way our democracy will be able to function effectively.
SIENNA BEVAN is a College first year from Santa Monica, Calif. Her email is smbevan@sas.upenn.edu.
