Opinion | How perspective, not just opinion, drives political involvement

Dedee Droege, junior political science and news and documentary double major

At Chapman, there are two kinds of people: those who bleed blue or red, and those who would rather throw up in their own mouths than listen to someone rant about politics.

I am, admittedly, the former. I am exactly the kind of liberal that you’d expect to pick fights with Republicans and throw the phrase “white privilege” around like candy. Everyone knows my archetype: I bring up politics during lulls in conversation, I listen to NPR twice a day, and yes, I went full drama queen and cried on election night in 2016.

On Chapman’s campus, just like everywhere else, our division has become a cliche: There are these two tribes of people sprinting further and further apart, eager to antagonize the other and win an argument. And at Chapman, we have an extra something going on – a blissful ignorance called apathy.

The way I view the world has become a juggling act between left, right and neutral. Keeping a level head seems impossible for those decidedly stuck in these viewpoints.

But here’s the thing: As much as the GOP baffles me, and much as I can’t stand nonvoters, I don’t blame other people for thinking the way they do.

If you pay close enough attention, you’ll be able to figure out why people don’t have the same ideologies as you. And it’s not always the obvious reasons, like family philosophies or level of education. Underneath the surface of every political opinion, there is subtext. There is always a deeper meaning. The explanation for people’s ideologies is hardly ever about the policy itself. Instead, it’s almost always about someone’s core values, which often culminate into an opinion that may seem worlds away from your own.

When I look at far-right conservatives who don’t believe that racism and the patriarchy exist anymore, my first instinct is to assume these people are crazy. But if you look at this perspective through a values-based lens, it’s clear that those who deny the existence of these issues aren’t trying to seem evil. They’re worried about losing power. To them, the rise of women and people of color in politics signifies the decline of white male influence, a shift that threatens what they know and understand.

I don’t want you to think that I’m defending sexism racism, or worst of all, extremism. With the domestic acts of terror in the last week, I am in no way excusing these heinous, deranged crimes. But when it comes to day-to-day political insensitivity, the only way to get through to those we want to dismiss as ignorant is to understand them. I would want Republicans to do the same for me.

You can – and should – read between the lines for any topic in our culture. Then, and only then, can we find a way to achieve the elusive holy grail of American politics: compromise.

I once had someone ask me, “Emotions aside, what has Donald Trump actually done wrong?” I wasn’t irritated by the cluelessness or contention I sensed, I was angered that someone would want to remove emotions from politics.

Politics are emotions, and emotions become politics. We need to embrace that. The way you feel when you hear about politics needs to be analyzed on a personal level. Beyond the obvious “That person is awful,” and “How could someone do that?” ask yourself, “Why am I angry? Why do I feel nothing? What does my perspective have to do with how I feel?”

The more that you are able to do this for yourself, the more you’ll be able to do it for those around you. The people you think are your polar opposite aren’t usually individually bad, evil or stupid people. They process their perspective through their emotions, just like you do. If you want someone to validate your political views, you must force yourself to validate those of others – even if you don’t think you’ll ever understand.

It’s painfully easy to antagonize the other side, spewing phrases “white privilege” and “liberal agenda.” Trust me, I still find myself doing this when my uncles share fake news articles on Facebook. But as Americans, we don’t have the time to do this anymore. I wish my side could take over and win just as much as the other side does, but we all live in the country together, and no one’s going anywhere.

It’s time to read the subtext laid out in front us. The future of American culture depends on it.