Every holiday, whether it is Christmas or Thanksgiving, there is one rule, “no politics at the dinner table.” This rule was perhaps instilled in family households for a number of reasons, including politics causing tension within families, its polarizing nature having the power to end relationships, etc. For some reason, politics has an inexplicable power over people. As a human race, we can agree that we long for politics not to have a grip over people’s lives. That seems like wishful thinking, but that wish can be achieved. The only way to ameliorate the awkwardness that politics puts in the air is to address the elephant in the room (in this case, red elephant). The elephant being one’s own personal beliefs and opinions. Now, no one can just abruptly regurgitate their opinions they have been digesting for many years (we have seen how that has backfired in society these days). In order to normalize talking about proclivity towards a way of thinking is to slowly introduce personal differences into the public sphere with patience and dignity. And what better time to make known our differences than the upcoming election.
Here at CUW, 25 students were interviewed about their thoughts regarding the upcoming election and American politics as a whole. To get the most weighted poll as possible, 14 men and 11 women of various grade levels were interviewed.
When asked if they were voting, all but one student said “yes.” That is not a surprising statistic. Based on polling across the country, educated people are more likely to vote. The reason behind that can be best explained by the civic education hypothesis, which states that, “education can provide both the skills and knowledge necessary to become an active and informed voter[1].” And even though the data shows that young, educated people are more likely to vote, it is still reassuring to know that many CUW students are participating members of society. And if you are one the few that are vacillating whether to vote or not, there are many great resources on campus that will help you become more pertinacious about American politics. Taking a class by CUW’s very own Dr. Lamont Colucci or Dr. Jeff Walz goes a long way. You might just find out how your opinions lines up with fellow students. Speaking of common opinions, the verdict of students’ opinions can be formed into four implications: politics is divisive, it often results in violence, the media plays too much of a role in politics, and people are so entitled to their opinion to the point where it becomes a personality trait.
Here is what many students said about politics being divisive,
- “There is a lot of division” “People can’t agree, so it’s split on both sides”
- “People make it such a big deal that they let it divide us to a point where it’s not necessary”
- “Some people don’t like to talk about politics because it’s so polarized” “they believe other people will look at them differently just because they believe in a certain idea”
- “As a nation we are already very divided when it comes to politics and this election is just further proof of the division we have”
- “We are too polarized”
Quotes about violence and politics,
- “There is a jump to violence instead of reasoning with others”
- “I think that people get too aggressive about politics and it becomes violent and there’s a lot of harsh words and judgements that come along with politics”
- “I think the aggressiveness of it all is pretty intimidating”
Quotes about media and politics,
- “People have this idea that if you talk politics that you’re instantly in this group of weirdos and I feel people try to make you out to be a radical person for that party, but if people did their own research and delve into it instead of believing what they see on the media they would find out it’s pretty normal to talk about your beliefs”
- “A lot of it starts in the media” “There is a lot of public shaming no matter who you vote for”
- “A lot of people don’t know much, so they vote on what they think is popular”
- “People pay attention to what is said in the news rather than actually looking up the information for themselves. Politics is very generational within family beliefs, so it creates a strong bias that very rarely gets exposed to the whole picture.”
Quotes about politics and self-entitlement,
- “Voting is important, but some people make it their whole personality in a sense”
- “When people make it a personality trait it splits people apart”
- “When people make it a personality trait it causes issues and creates the hateful world we’re in today”
It is fair to say that many other people born in the new generation feel this way. This makes engaging in politics seem futile, but there is hope. The way that the founding fathers set up the American government makes it easy to take part in the system and do our best to change it for the good of America. The only hard part is knowing where to begin. The simplest way is to get used to being outside the comfort zone, join a club, take a social studies class, try becoming part of a local association. And if you still do not know where to go, come to a Student Government meeting and see what goes on behind the scenes.
For more information on how to register to vote click here.
— Peyton Smith is a writer for the Beacon. He is a senior mass communication major graduating in may 2025 with a minor in political science.
[1] Educator, A. S. B. and S., Shearer, A., Educator, B. and S., Commentary, G., Analyst, A. D. F. S., Desikan, A., Analyst, F. S., Director, C. Williams Research, Williams, C., & Director, R. (2023, August 28). What makes the college-educated more likely to vote?. The Equation. https://blog.ucsusa.org/alyssa-shearer/what-makes-the-college-educated-more-likely-to-vote/