In our school hallways, we are taught to respect others even if they have different opinions from us. We learn about the give and take of a democracy, where ideas clash, but people don’t. But looking at our country right now, these things that we learn about don’t seem true. Opinions have turned into a reason to be killed, and voting against a bill is a personal security risk. The people running our great country have forgotten what they learned in their high school government classes. The political violence in our country has never been seen before since the civil war, with assassinations, arson, and infringement of our First Amendment rights.
On both sides of the political spectrum, people think that political violence is either justified or needed. The far right and far left are convinced that the other side is poisoning the country and needs to be removed. The current president, Donald Trump, has tweeted for a recount on one of America’s oldest traditions: “They just happened to find 50,000 ballots late last night. The USA is embarrassed by fools. Our Election Process is worse than that of third-world countries!”
Republicans responded by raiding the Capitol and not accepting the results of the election. This was seen as a necessary act by the MAGA movement, and five years later, the same people who disrespected America’s most meaningful building got pardoned by the president of our country. Those acts were not seen as hypocritical but instead heroic. This is a testament to how the polarization of American politics has divided the nation.
In recent months, the violence in America has boiled up with the devastating assassination of Charlie Kirk. The assassination was due to his strong viewpoints on controversial topics. He would travel throughout the country talking to college students. He was shot on September 10, 2025, while addressing an audience on the campus of Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah. As predicted, the right wing gave him a full funeral with a trip on a government-issued plane, Air Force 2, and speeches from the defense secretary, the vice president, and the president. He was viewed as a hero by most. But on the left wing, it was filled with hateful comments and posts celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk. People felt that the actions of the killer were needed and that he should be seen as a hero. People also have said that he had it coming when Matthew Dowd, Former MSNBC Senior Political Analyst, said, “Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
These responses are horrific, as he had two children and a wife. This man was not the devil, and shouldn’t be killed because of his views. People should be able to speak about their opinions, talk to people with different views from theirs, without being shot. This country was built by people who opposed and had different views. The country’s founding fathers made sure that people like Charlie Kirk had the right to speak on controversial topics. If the founding fathers had seen the country we have made today, they would be horrified by the ignorance of our politicians.
These actions are not just on one side of the spectrum. It is not the Democrats’ fault nor the Republicans’, it is America’s fault. It is every American citizen who supports the raiding of federal buildings or celebrates the death of a political speaker. Even as I learn more about our country’s government, I find more and more differences between what I have been taught and what I see. We learn about the people who came together when our country was divided, not spread farther apart. It goes back to elementary school when we practiced talking with kindness and respect to others, but people around the country have lost the ability to see the other side. They have lost the ability to have a conversation- not an argument, but a civil conversation where people listen to learn, not to refute. The country has never been so far divided, where nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of respondents naturally think that Americans who identify with a political party believe that corruption is primarily a problem for the other party.
The people whom we look up to need to fix this problem; hiding it under the sheets and hoping it will resolve itself won’t work anymore. People need to remember what they learned in their high school government class. They need to see that each American who doesn’t have the same viewpoint as you is not an enemy or a “poison” but a patriot. An American, a human being. As former President Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
