Compromise

The household I grew up in is a rapidly shrinking commodity in the United States. My parents hold different political beliefs, something that is becoming rarer by the year. In 2016, 30% of marriages in the U.S. were composed of people with different political beliefs, but in the New American Family Survey, only 21% of families are, and of those, only 4.6% are between a Democrat and a Republican. 

While this may have led to many arguments over the years (especially in relation to the wider swings of recent times), seeing how these arguments were reasoned out was a necessary stage in my development into a growing adult. 

Online, millions of people are so stymied by their political beliefs that it seems that they stop seeing the other side as human. There are thousands of comments on social media from people saying that going beyond considering someone with different political beliefs as a partner, but even as a friend, is beyond them. 

This divide is becoming even more pronounced among younger generations, where political disagreement is no longer just common—it is widening into entirely different worldviews. Among Americans aged 18–29, young women are significantly more likely to identify as liberal or Democratic, while young men are increasingly leaning conservative. In fact, recent data shows that 61% of young women supported the Democratic ticket in 2024, compared to just 48% of young men, illustrating a sharp political split within the same generation. Even more striking, some analyses show young men favoring conservative candidates while young women favor liberal ones by double-digit margins, a reversal of long-standing trends. This gap is not small—it can exceed 20 percentage points in ideological identification, making it one of the largest gender divides in modern political history

Communication cannot be foregone. When you stop seeing the other side as just another person, you become more manipulative, as shown by research published in Psychology Today, and it becomes easier for you to write off anything they say. It seems that we are approaching a party-line future, where everyone falls meekly into the program of their party in fear of being ostracized. 

While it does make social life more difficult, where it is truly harmful is in our government. The United States government is a system meant to prevent action. Multiple layers of checks and balances prevent major changes from happening (e.g. bicameral legislature, presidential veto, judicial review). Unlike the British government, where the legislative and executive branches are fused and can act swiftly—the U.S. must go through Congress to enact laws—action in the U.S. is much slower. 

If fewer Americans are willing to engage with those who think differently, we risk losing not just political cooperation, but the ability to reason, compromise, and grow.

The growing fear and dislike of the far side of the aisle is becoming a larger problem. According to a study published by  The Center for Effective Lawmaking, only about 20% of bill co-sponsors come from the opposing party today, which is down significantly from earlier decades.

This is leading to the United States government’s gridlock. According to Newsmax, in the 1950s, Congress passed over 800 laws per two-year session, but in recent years, that number has dropped to 350 or fewer. 

The consequences of this growing divide extend far beyond Congress and social media—they shape the way we live, think, and relate to one another. If fewer Americans are willing to engage with those who think differently, we risk losing not just political cooperation, but the ability to reason, compromise, and grow.

The household I grew up in showed me that disagreement does not have to mean division. It can mean discussion, understanding, and ultimately respect. As the country becomes more polarized, that lesson feels less common—but more necessary than ever. If we want a government that functions and a society that endures, we must be willing to see the other side not as an enemy, but as people worth listening to.