These days, my parents, teachers and other adults in my life seem to be having trouble expressing their political and social views without projecting a lot of anger and frustration–especially when faced with someone who holds an opposing political view who happens to be in the same room. While I respect their passion, I don’t think they’re helping themselves, or my generation, with this approach to dialogue or problem-solving. Likewise, a similar pattern of verbal political discord, often mildly belligerent, manifests itself in my high school every day.

  For example, the other night I was at a small gathering of friends. We began discussing the profound effect climate change has on our mountain community. As the conversation evolved, I noticed that there was a deep division between those who believe in climate change and those who believe it is a myth perpetuated by the government. From there, the discussion became a full-on altercation. One thing I noticed was that neither side had a complete command of the facts. It was an emotionally charged disagreement that became so heated that it might have become physical had the dominos delivery guy not arrived at precisely the right moment to distract us.

  My mother tells me that back in the olden days it was entirely possible to have a completely civil conversation with somebody who had a different political view–without feeling like you were about to have an anxiety attack. Nowadays, we are almost incapable of understanding or even hearing the other side, which makes for an unproductive conversational standstill. How can we progress as a society if we can’t have a constructive discourse?

  I believe the key to remedying this situation is empathy and, ultimately, developing better listening skills. If we can’t imagine what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes, then we can’t begin to find political common ground. Unfortunately, the leadership in our country has created a really contentious, polarizing atmosphere, in which everyone seems to believe they need to choose a side. But, the truth is that the solutions to most of our problems reside in the space between the two polarized viewpoints. It is up to our generation to argue differently, to find a compromise, and to listen to each other with sympathy and compassion.