This election season, tensions among friends, family, and colleagues have grown. But the stress prompts a couple of questions: Has it always been this way? Have family gatherings, come the holiday season, always been dreaded? 

The New York Times, citing a poll taken in 2022, noted that nearly one in five voters stated their relationships have been impacted by disagreements on government. 

“In the last 30 years, the tenor of politics has changed,” social studies teacher Jacob Clark said, stating that Democrats and Republicans used to go out for drinks after political disagreements in the House and Senate. Now, he claims the social aspect of politics has changed drastically, impacting peoples’ ability to connect. 

But the source of this issue doesn’t appear to have a concise answer. 

With the rise of modern technology, the way people consume news has changed. The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) stated that the internet has “reshaped politics,” and changed the way citizens recognize legitimacy of news.

“I think that along with print media, we have also witnessed the fading of our democracy,” Chad Kessler, another South social studies teacher, contemplated. “The internet is absolutely where people go, then, to replace the paper. And what they do online is they go to their sources of choice. Those will reinforce what they want to believe.”

He argued that the original print news sources had more drive to be honest and neutral because there were only so many of them, appealing to wider audiences. 

Clark argued a different reason is behind today’s increase in political polarization. 

“When your political leaders don’t have mutual respect, and then they use specific language, inappropriate I would say, it allows others to believe that’s the way to communicate,” he said. 

He said that the shift in politicians’ attitudes over the years is responsible for the public’s shift in attitude, suggesting the idea that the source of over-personalized politics is the politicians themselves. This implies that the professionalism of power over decades has been gradually declining. 

This begs the question: How deeply personal have politics gotten within familial disagreements?

“I think that disagreements, especially with politics, can get really personal. It can cause a disconnect between members of a family with differing views,” South junior Nico Peczka said. He suggested that there is currently a rift between family members because of how strong their political beliefs run through them.

Often, there can be a generational gap when it comes to political beliefs.  

“I occasionally get into arguments about it [politics] with my dad,” Peczka said.

There seems to be a common agreement that dinner table talk has become confrontational, and the concept of differing opinions has changed drastically. But what could this lead to? Will the rising tensions eventually fizzle out, or will they escalate to a truly worrisome point?

“I think that unless there is some sort of national emergency, where everyone is required to sacrifice, and everyone is required to set aside their own petty political differences, my fear is that it will worsen.” Clark said. He predicted, on a particularly dark note, that a large-scale event is what it might take to bring back political common ground. 

With all of this current turmoil in the government, and all of the resulting speculation, it has clearly been difficult for people to relax with their families without tension. 

But if there is not an all-around solution, or clear outcome, how do people stay at ease in a short term solution?

Therapists at Jonah Green and Associates of Maryland have a few suggestions, such as monitoring where information is sourced. But the main point they establish is that it’s important to prioritize one’s own morals and deep connections with people. It’s important to know which arguments are worth it, and to choose the ones that could actually have a productive outcome.

Article by Story Frazier-Maskiell