Ian Brzeski | United States

Politics, in essence, is the art in which people are involved with changing or guiding government policy. The majority of the population detests politics mainly due to the recent extreme polarization of the political spectrum. The left hates the right and vice-versa. People have forgotten how to argue and have resorted to slander to try to make themselves feel good about whatever it is that they are claiming.

The polarization of the political spectrum has led people to believe that there is a hierarchical standing associated with politics. People everywhere on the political spectrum think that whatever they believe in is correct. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with that, but where it starts to get dangerous is when people begin to dehumanize the other side which will inevitably lead to hatred for others.

Unwilling and Unyielding

This all comes from people’s unwillingness to learn and view other viewpoints. Take Ben Shapiro for example. I have no doubt in my mind that Ben is a brilliant man. He is intelligent, knowledgeable, and knows how to win his arguments. I agree with him on specific issues, but I also disagree with him on a multitude of others. The problem that I have with Ben is not where I disagree with him, but it is where I can see that all he really cares about is winning his argument. Ben goes into every single discussion thinking that he is already right. He does not want to learn or take anything away from a debate. Arguments should not be about winning. They should be about learning or gaining a sense of understanding from other perspectives.

Going into an argument thinking that your mind cannot be changed is honestly the worst thing a person can do. Nothing good is going to come out of that argument, only hatred and further polarization. Due to this, constant generalizations about people of their respective political standing which will only lead to slander and dehumanization. It is so feeble-minded how conservatives hate liberals and liberals hate conservatives solely based on their politics. When this hatred in politics arises, people are quick to resort to slandering their opposition, and it is horrible to look at. It is dehumanizing and frankly extremely childish. It is not even just conservatives and liberals; it includes every single area of the political spectrum, including libertarians. People need to start attacking ideas in arguments and not the people themselves.

A Riff Caused by Hatred

People hate each other in politics for no rational reason. Everywhere I look on social media, I see many conservatives who think every liberal is a crying “snowflake” who kills babies, wears vagina hats and is a member of Antifa, and many liberals who believe every conservative is a racist, misogynist pig who enjoys mass shootings and sexual assault. Yes, maybe there are some extreme rarities on both of these sides that people fall under, but in no way whatsoever is this the case. It would be incredibly idiotic to think so.

Some of the worst childish banter comes from libertarians themselves. You have the libertarian infighting where many libertarians think some libertarians are not libertarian enough. You also have the opposite of this where many libertarians believe that there are libertarians who are too radical. Some libertarians want no government at all, and others still believe in some form government, a minimal government, however. It is honestly weird that there is so much tension between these two sets of libertarians despite having near similar beliefs especially since the political system we have in place today is nowhere near the realm of any form of libertarianism.

Libertarians not only hate each other, but they also hate other groups even more. To many libertarians, if you are not a libertarian, you are probably a statist pig who hates our freedoms. Just like how not every conservative is a racist and how not every liberal is a snowflake, not every non-libertarian hates your freedoms. These straightforward generalizations that people make towards other political groups are abnormal, to say the least, and has led to a deep hatred towards others. The legitimate hatred for others based on political views is exceptionally pathetic, almost as pathetic as hating somebody because they are a supporter of another sports team.

This hatred has led to so many people not knowing why they like or dislike a political candidate or why they are Republican or Democrat or Libertarian. They only vote for specific candidates or align with specific political parties because they are quick to make generalizations about the other side. They don’t try to read about opposing viewpoints or learn why people hold opposing views because they already believe that they are inherently right or maintain the moral high ground. This all stems from people’s unwillingness to learn and hear new ideas. People need to go into arguments willing to learn or get something out of it, not to just go into arguments trying to win. In my eyes, a genius of a person unwilling to learn is way less respectable than a less intelligent person who strives to learn.

Politics is literally just people trying to figure out what they think would be best for everybody. Conservatives, liberals, libertarians, independents, socialists, communists, objectivists, anarchists, and many others are not inherently evil people. These people are generally well-meaning people who want the betterment of society. There is really not that much more to it. So stop hating people based on their political ideology and start reading and learning about why people believe in what they believe. You are going to remain stupid and ignorant if you do not have a proper understanding of other ideologies.

If you are a socialist who likes to hate on libertarians but has never read Hayek or Rothbard or Bastiat for example, then you have no right to hate on libertarians at all. This also goes for libertarians who have not read any books or articles from any great socialist thinkers or authors. This goes for every single person who is invested in politics. Read as much as you can so you can obtain the most knowledge. Read so you can formulate your ideologies to the best of your ability because if you don’t, you really shouldn’t be engaging in political discourse at all.

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