While both of the popular political parties in the United States have brought forth their own respectable and qualified candidates for the upcoming presidential election – Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump – it seems that every bit of news shared about the pair is quite the opposite of respectable and qualified. Sneering remarks, rude insults and words of cruelty and abuse are seemingly hurled from one side to another, and it has reached a breaking point.
A comprehensive 2023 study conducted by the Pew Research Center about the beliefs and viewpoints of American voters found that just 4% of U.S adults say the political system is working extremely or very well.
Additionally, the study found that “positive views of many governmental and political institutions are at a historic low.” These statements seem to align with the general opinion of the country, which begs the question: what does this mean for the future of our generation, and our country?
One of the many warnings that our first president George Washington gave us in his parting words was a warning against political factionalism. Factionalism is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “a situation in which a group forms within a larger group, especially one with slightly different ideas from the main group.” While this simple concept may seem harmless, we can see in real time just how it has affected our politics and corrupted the unity of our country.
America, once the great melting pot of countless philosophies, creeds, peoples, cultures, religions, and ways of life, has become two separate identities, both of which are unspeakably angry at the other for the problems that the United States faces today. Instead of upholding our core constitutional values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we fight each other in our own homes, schools, streets, courtrooms, and legislative hearings. This division is the very real danger that faces us, and it is up to us to address it.
The next generation of voters, the highschoolers of today’s age, are the ones responsible for fixing these very real issues. Though it seems unfair, given that this specific generation didn’t cause any of these issues, it’s what is necessary for protecting the unity of our great nation, and protecting the livelihoods of all of its civilians, communities, and lifestyles. The solution is not to take up arms and fight a neighbor that may hold a conflicting viewpoint, but it is instead to embrace our uniqueness because it is what makes us who we are. The solution is not to violently speak hate and abuse, but instead to preach equality for all no matter what they believe or think, as long as it’s peaceful. The solution is to realize that your classmate, your parents, your siblings, your friends and neighbors, your politicians and officials, the doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, construction workers, garbagemen, and all those in between are not your enemy, but instead your companion. They are your ally, and they are the backbone of what our proud nation once stood for and can stand for again.
