In the past four years or so, I've gotten pretty into politics. Admittedly, much of my exposure to it has been from the echo-chamber of Twitter, which provides me with liberal/leftist tweets on the daily. However, this isn't to say that I haven't considered the other side on many issues; I'm minoring in political science and am planning on becoming a journalist, so objectivity and the ability to see multiple sides of a topic are necessary for me.
However, I think that the line needs to be drawn somewhere. Because though the average citizen may feel removed from politics, the things that our government does affects each and every one of us--some more than others--so it's crucial that the policies that are being put in place are going to help us, not hurt us.
Now, this isn't to say that I hate someone as soon as they say that they're Republican or moderate. I have friends all across the political spectrum because as much as I hate some people's opinions, I'm realistic. I know that if I ostracize everyone with an opinion that differs from mine, I'd probably have no friends. However, out of all of the Republicans I'm friends with, none of them support Trump because Trump supporters, I'm not afraid to say, are where I draw the line. Supporting someone as hateful, bigoted, and downright ignorant as Donald Trump speaks volumes to your character if you ask me.
This article isn't an attack on our president, he's just a shining example of where I draw the line when it comes to politics. What a lot of people don't realize is that the view of political beliefs as a mere "personal opinion" is an extremely privileged outlook to have. This an outlook mostly reserved for white, straight, middle-class people (it doesn't work to be a man, either).
We are the people whom, no matter who's president, will probably be fine. I can personally say that, though I hate that Trump got elected, the only time his policies have negatively affected me or my family is when he shut down the government for three weeks (which, still, of course, was a huge problem). And unless his administration puts restrictions on women's reproductive rights, I'll probably be fine, however, I'm not naive. I know that there are many people who won't be. There are so many groups of people now, such as undocumented immigrants or transgender people, who are suffering under his administration.
At the end of the day, I can't be friends with someone who can support policies that break families apart, take away people's healthcare, restrict women's reproductive rights, or make lives harder for low-income people. "Agree to disagree" has no place in the topic of whether people deserve the right to just treatment and a decent life. I'm sorry, but if you support policies that are just a hair short of a straight-up human rights violation, that's not a difference of opinion; it's a difference of morality. And if that makes me divisive, then I can live with that. As long as I'm staying true to my beliefs, that's what matters to me.
