In our modern society, too many people have limited visions of different worldviews and social perspectives. Though this is an issue from whatever topic can be looked upon, I believe this tunnel vision causes the most problems in the political field. Too many people have a singular set of beliefs integrated into them based on who raised them and the pressured beliefs a community has on them. I’m not saying that these beliefs are right or wrong, but I believe too many people (especially young adults) allow their political beliefs to remain stagnant once they have been told by someone else what is right or wrong. Overall, it just leaves no room for these young adults to develop a sense of values and what matters to them. They just believe what they are told because they don’t know any better.
This is not only a problem in young adults, but adults are also stuck in their own bubble of beliefs so much that people are disrespectful to those who are not within the same bubble as themselves.
These people aren’t willing to try and understand the opposite side’s beliefs and will disregard any reason people give for their position on subjects. This is the root of the separation between people in this nation. Once two people feel so strongly that their opinion is right, but neither of them is willing to hear the other out, a separation begins. This separation begins with a simple statement that escalates to a screaming fight where nothing is resolved. But where have all these views they are screaming about come from? They are most likely from their parents or people within the community, they were raised in. I believe that this pressure that young adults feel is more of a problem in smaller towns. I’m not saying that it still doesn’t exist in larger towns and cities, but within smaller towns, everyone seems to have the same political views, which pressures young adults to feel they need to have the same sets of beliefs, and these tight-knit communities also just don’t present the other types of beliefs out there in the world for these young adults to explore.
The reason I came to this conclusion is because I believe I have been pressured about what my political opinions should be by the community and people within the community. For me, it was mainly an issue when I was younger. I used to be a kid who would argue with other students to try and force what I believed onto people. I did this because I thought I was right and no one else could be more right than me. At that point as well, I would disregard and not pay any mind to all the other points of view. This was because of how closed-minded I was at this point in my life when it came to my beliefs.
I stayed this way for a long time until I had a job, and I worked for a person who had many different political views than me. I did not have the nerve to argue against him because I was worried I would lose my job, and that was the last thing I wanted. For a long time, I would just disregard what he had to say and just agree so there would be no fuss. But eventually, this stopped working because of the sheer amount of time I had to spend with this person. Eventually, I began to listen to what he had to say and considered his opinion. Then I was hit one day with this sort of understanding for a topic I had opposite views from him on. From that point on, I’ve tried to be willing to at least hear where the other person is coming from and why they are coming to the conclusions they have.
After that point in my life, I still kept many of my opinions that I originally believed in, but I just paid more attention to the other side. My opinions wouldn’t waver nearly at all until I needed to write some essays on a topic I didn’t agree with. I had chosen the topic based on an opinion I agreed with, but there was no evidence to support my perspective once I started researching. After learning on my own time, I had discovered the side I initially was arguing against had many valid arguments. Because of this, I am no longer so closed-minded about everything, and I realize that not everything is as straightforward as I once believed.
So, there are ways to get out of these sets of values you are pressured into even after you have been convinced of a truth already. But, this open-mindedness does not just come to you. You have to be willing to listen to the other side of the argument with the intent to understand and not to compete. Along with this you should go research into topics and find what the evidence states and not what some people say is true. People have many ideas, and in this society, we all must work to understand each other more and more each day.