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Kara Cekuta

Critical Commentary

Recently, social media outlets have been calling out anti-feministic feminists, the

morality of fraternity brothers, and attacks on liberals, conservatives, and almost anything in

between.

My inspiration for this paper came mainly from the frustration and divide that I had

personally been noticing on my college campus. Peacefulness and acceptance seem to be

disappearing into a sea of judgement and blame. America is angry, and in many ways rightfully

so, but this anger, fear, and hatred has destroyed any type of united America front that we had

before this election.

Personally, I have always tried my best to be an optimist. I think that hope and positivity

are important elements to a happy and healthy life. I also think that positive attitudes are crucial

to getting things done. Positive attitudes give more power to teamwork and cooperation, leading

to higher success rates and creative solutions. I strongly believe that there is always a solution if

the parties involved are willing to look hard enough. Compromise and open-mindedness create

more solutions to the worlds problems than ignorance.


http://www.people-press.org/2016/06/22/6-how-do-the-political-parties-make-you-feel

To apply this personal theory to something more concrete, this data taken from the Pew

Research Center shows the increasing bad attitude that is taking over Americans. Almost 9 in

10 Americans feel negatively against their opposing political parties, which shows how severe

the split is within American beliefs.

Another source of division is occurring with individuals that are loyal to the political

party system, and those who are skeptical. The number of Americans that have stated their

dissatisfaction with their own political party affiliation has skyrocketed since the election.
This could be a result of the extremes that have been brought about by this election. The voices

of extremists have been showcased by popular media, while the average American loses hope in

any type of reasonable belief being represented in our government system.

The rise of this dissatisfaction with the political party system has been on the rise since

1990, and the recent events under the Trump presidency has only fueled this feeling. Most likely,

the average American feels that their voice is not being presented by government officials, which

could explain the explosion of preachy posts and personal beliefs and philosophies scattered

across social media outlets.

According to a 2016 survey conducted by The Guardian, More than six in ten (61%)

Americans say neither political party represents their views anymore. Dissatisfaction with

Americas two major parties has risen significantly since 1990, when fewer than half (48%) of

Americans believed neither political party represented their views. Dissatisfaction with our

political party system seems to be correlated with the dissatisfaction on the direction of our

country as a whole.
http://www.people-press.org/2016/06/22/partisanship-and-political-animosity-in-2016/
Frustration has always been a mutual feeling within political parties, but the growing

sense of fear and anger is something that hasnt been seen in a very, very long time (at least not

to this extent).

These negative feelings have started to overpower any positive feelings that any party

may have previously had at the start of the Trump Era. These attitudes have made it harder to

reach an understanding and compromise within these opinions. Instead of using time and effort

finding solutions to appease both parties and reach a consensus among Americans, we have been

using this energy to prove why we are right and they are wrong.

http://www.people-press.org/2016/06/22/partisanship-and-political-animosity-in-2016/
Interestingly enough, as cynical as political parties have been regarding each other,

Democrats and Republicans have shown even stronger distaste for the opposing candidate then

for members of the opposing party.

The accusation of close-mindedness has been a recurring argument against Republicans

by Democrats. There is a stigma that the Democratic Party may be willing to compromise with

the Republican Party on some issues, but the Republican Party remains stubborn on many of

these issues.

Alternatively, there have been multiple counter-arguments accusing Democrats of being

lazier than the average American. This is mainly due to the judgement that younger people are

lazier than older people, and the younger generation is known to lean left.

http://www.people-press.org/2016/06/22/partisanship-and-political-animosity-in-2016/
This information shows that these issues are more than likely affecting everyday

interactions between Americans.

http://www.people-

press.org/2016/06/22/partisanship-and-political-animosity-in-2016/

This partisanship has gone so far that that members of political parties have accused

opposing parties of threatening the nations well-being with their actions. There is a strong belief
that the opposing party is misguided, again giving no chance at reaching an understanding. There

is no hope that there are common grounds between these groups.

Independents have now gotten to the point where they have outnumbered both Democrats

and Republicans. In my opinion, this is the result of the extremism and animosity that has been

represented by political parties lately. Individuals who are not interested in the division of the

American people really have no group to turn to outside of the growing number of independents,
especially among millennials.

http://www.people-press.org/2016/06/22/partisanship-and-political-animosity-in-2016/
http://www.people-press.org/2016/06/22/partisanship-and-political-animosity-in-2016/

Group mentality plays a major role in the division between political parties. It has been

proven that having friends associated with a certain party greatly impacts many Americans

decisions on their parties. Individuals who have friends in both parties are more likely to be

politically open-minded and accepting of all beliefs. However, individuals who have friends

strictly belonging to a specific party are more likely to think negatively about the opposing party.
This is not that surprising, considering how powerful group mentalities can become, especially

among young people.


http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/

The main issue that this divide and animosity brings is that there is a difference between

what the average American believes and what is being brought up to our government officials.

What it mainly comes down to is participation. Although the general public does not associate

very strongly with one political party or another, the individuals that do have strong liberal or

conservative tendencies are the individuals involved in our government.


http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/

Although most Americans would be happy to see government policies reaching

reasonable consensus, the involvement of polarized individuals has made this nearly impossible.

Therefore, our representation in government is presenting these polarized views, and not the

mixed views that so many Americans have.

This issue has made major impacts on political behaviors, government policies and

debates, the dynamics of elections, especially our most recent one, and everyday behavior and

attitude among the American public. I assume that most Americans are aware, and are affected

by this issue. My concern is that most people are unaware of exactly how much impact this issue

has made on us, and that we can easily take action against it if we act in numbers.
This issue has crept into all of our personal lives, whether it be within family, friends,

work, or education, we are all feeling the impact of this partisanship.

http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/section-1-growing-ideological-

consistency/#interactive

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