We live in a world where Roseanne Barr feels the need to slander a member of the Obama Administration racially, and where there are people happily cheering on Antifa and their intimidation tactics. Do we want to live in a world of chaos? Is Tribalism the human condition? The thing is, we do not have to rely on the “Us vs. Them” mentality. 

The world does not have to be as chaotic as it is, at least as far as the inside of American borders, or even our school(s), are concerned. To truly stop our political chaos, we need to promote a uniquely American brand of respect. Even if the biggest elephant in the room is a jerk sometimes- disrespecting veterans like Myeshia Johnson, a Gold Star Veteran’s widow, we can still maximize each other’s effectiveness by working together. Sadly, we live in a Bipartisan, or two-sided America, which is discouraging because of the lack of unity in a nation that was born out of unity-  we fought off the British didn’t we?

Americans are still Americans, Left or Right. Where have the civil discussions of Martin Luther King’s day gone? Or the almost universal agreement across our nation that John F. Kennedy was a great president? America did not work itself out of the great depression by bickering and infighting, nor “outer-fighting” between two political parties. We got out by saying to each other “You’re human, and you deserve to be treated with dignity, Rich or Poor, Republican or Democrat.”It seems like if Liberal Americans say the sky is blue, Conservative Americans will say the sky is red, and vice-versa. Conservative and Liberal Americans used to work together not too long ago.

With Ronald Reagan and Thomas P. O’neill being so willing to look across the aisle not just because they “put their country first” but also because they saw each other as friends. This idea of looking to the opposing team seems so alien to either of the extremist far-right or far-left because they are too busy spitting venom at each other. Children with still-developing brains seem like they would be a better fit in the current administration than these party-loyalists. And on the subject of still-developing brains… here at EHS in Mr. Nelson’s US History class, we’ve been able to change each other’s minds on hot topics such as abortion and gun rights, with the worst things happening usually being a stalemate and not one that ends in a government shutdown.

Also, older generations that have not picked a side believe things can go back to the way they were close to 80 years, or even just 20 years ago. So personally, I believe we can go back to the good old days, minus the flourishing racism, and truly make America great again.

We can restart the tradition of working together by holding conversations on this topic at EHS, and other schools that read this paper. However, there is no reason to get mad at each other for having differing opinions, because most if not all of us, are patriots. Emotions needn’t apply because we are all emotionally invested in the same country. Besides, name-calling accomplishes nothing. A debate that is civil will accomplish much more than a shouting match. And above all else, we’re human. We need to promote Respect for each other and the entire human race.