Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” As of today, we are a divided country in many ways. We have two strong political parties that are always butting heads and it seems difficult for them to work together for the betterment of our country. One party has a majority over the Senate while the other reigns over the House of Representatives.

Many can see the division when people gather together and either avoid politics altogether or engage in political topics. Oftentimes, this leads to disagreements and conflict, causing anger, hurtfulness, and regret. Some of the major topics that seem to be dividing the country are gun control, gender roles, and religion.

The 2016 Presidential election seemed to have kick-started another level of division in the US.  The two constituents in this election, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton along with the previously mentioned topics drove people to opposite ends of the spectrum. The 2020 election just added more fuel to the fire. At this stage of the game, Democratic and Republican voters are pushed to side with one candidate leaving the opposition as the enemy.

NBC, ABC, and CBS  are three of the most-watched news channels. People will tune in to learn about world events and local news. These news platforms seem to cater a lot to benefit one political party specifically. However, there are still many other networks that viewers can watch to gather other insights and opinions on politics.

The younger generation (Gen Z) tends to use social media as a source of credibility and information. When something political pops up that correlates with their beliefs or who they support, they will more likely tend to believe it rather than research it. Multiple people I know always believe what the media says rather than researching to fact-check. It’s hard to have a conversation with them when they won’t take in other input or possible facts. This ultimately will lead them to vote for that candidate even if that news is fake. So, a lot of the political misinformation that steers the election is the result of social media.

It’s frustrating to know that social media has such a strong influence on people. This has been a problem overall but for it to weigh in on people’s political views is just wrong. Of course, people should vote for who they think will be the best candidate, but how can someone do that when they are not only being influenced by the media but by other people?

When asked this question the ‘average Joe’ might say that we need candidates who aren’t so deep in politics their whole life, like we have seen in the past, or someone who isn’t a millionaire. We need someone who can relate to the people. Our most recent presidents have been so convoluted and controlled by larger wealthier factors that benefit only them and their party. Unfortunately, it is expensive and hard for someone to produce a following and make a change. Hopefully, soon we will have candidates who can relate to and unite our country in new ways that form a more harmonious life for all of us.