For Harper Barrett, participant of several protests and junior, being politically involved in today’s polarized climate remains immensely crucial.
“I don’t understand not being into politics,” she said. “It controls every bit of your life, so why would you not want to be in tune with what’s happening?”
According to Gallup, political tensions in recent years have been at an all-time high. Voters are more ideologically polarized than ever before, with 77% of Republicans identifying as conservative and 55% of Democrats identifying as liberal, while the percentage of moderates has wilted to a record low of 34%. A 2024 Pew Research study also indicated that the percentage of Americans who hold unfavorable views of both parties has quadrupled over the past two decades to 28%. Polls also stipulate large majorities of Americans who believe the other party “poses a threat that if not stopped will destroy America.”
Barrett said she has noticed the polarized climate in many atmospheres.
“To me, (polarization is) a lack of meeting in the middle, and I think sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad, but right now, there’s such a strong divide that’s been created, and almost an atmosphere insinuating that if you’re on the right, you can’t have the same opinions as someone on the left because then you’d be siding with the enemy,” she said. “I really think that’s the way you have to look at it with political polarization, where it’s just kind of creating an enemy out of someone who’s not.”
Ben Russell, organizer of the Carmel neighborhood protest event, said, “There is just a societal trend right now where our political leaders are making such insanely radical claims, and people feel as if there’s no option but to keep supporting them, even if they don’t exactly agree on all the details. It makes the difference between the parties seem like there is no middle ground.”
Barrett said, “With certain people in office, ultimately the only way for them to stay in power is to create a divide, because if there’s a divide, then we can’t unanimously agree that the people in power need to go. Polarization is really just a tool for people in power to stay in power and to become more powerful, because, ultimately, we use the citizens, your average normal people are too busy in-fighting instead of focusing on what really matters.”
Mimi Mason, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) president and junior, said she felt the effects of our polarized society in the making of her club.
“I knew what I was getting myself into, especially with such a big school and in a woke era for these past few years. We want the best for America, and that’s a big misconception with all the people and democrats on the left wing,” she said. “They think this club is racist, this club is homophobic. No, this is a pro-America club. You do not have to be a Republican, but I mean, that’s the vast majority of it.
“You also don’t have to agree with everything that we say. You don’t have to agree with everything that Donald Trump says,” Mason continued. “You don’t have to agree with everything that Charlie (Kirk) says. But with the time and place that we are in these days, it’s very hard to get kids to understand that without hatred, especially under the youth population, and especially TikTok, with all the posts from the left side, coming out and saying all these things about the Republican party, because anyone can post anything.”
Social media has played a considerable role in polarizing society, with major public figures such as Charlie Kirk becoming prominent political figures among youths. In September 2024, researchers highlighted how provocative content has a higher chance of becoming viral, with each mention of a political “outgroup” increasing the post’s likelihood of being retweeted by 67%.
Barrett said, “Now more than ever, people have the ability to just say whatever they want as if it is fact. I think that that has given a lot of people self-authorized authority to make claims about things they don’t know anything about. It used to be that just experts were platformed, for the most part. It’s not like that anymore; people can just say whatever they want, and if it’s interesting enough, if it’s engaging enough, then in a way it becomes the truth. I don’t agree with pretty much anything Charlie Kirk said, but I can acknowledge the fact that he is a coherent debater who is engaging to listen to. And when he says things, they almost sound true, even when they’re not. That creates a large fan base of people who want to listen to him because the way he talks sounds good to people. It sounds like a good message, but at the same time is polarizing in a way, because there are people who are able to see through that and know that the things that he’s saying aren’t true, and they create issues, which was why he had so many people who didn’t like him.”
Mason furthered, “Social media platforms really amplify voices on both extremes and a lot of people with individual harsh political opinions, in ways that I feel like encourage people to be outraged. I believe that, especially with Instagram and TikTok, you can absolutely post whatever you want, and people will believe it. Really, people need to be able to have ground information on each political party to realize what is best. Especially when 2020 came rolling along and there was Covid and everyone was online, with Donald Trump as our president at that time, I feel like everyone ended up switching towards the liberal and Democrat side. I feel like it was kind of on a downfall with our country at that point, just because everyone was so online. TikTok definitely made our president look like a bad person. So, honestly, I feel like social media has had one of the absolute biggest impacts on political views with harsh things, non-harsh things, equality, I mean, everything, absolutely everything.”
According to ABC News, the passing of Kirk on Sept. 10 has prompted further political divisions, especially due to his well-regarded social media status making his beliefs available to the public and youths. The parties blame each other for the event, prompting further dissension.
Barrett said, “I think the logical conclusion to an event like this would be making it so that crazy people can’t get guns, or that people can’t get guns as easily, because, as in this case, the guy who did it didn’t seem like he would do something like that, but who does? (The shooting) will polarize people more, as we’ve already seen, with some people saying that he deserved it, and some people saying that this is one of the most tragic things ever. I don’t think that’s okay, and I think it’s a symptom of a greater sense of people trying to rationalize because it’s crazy that happens. But I think it is a symptom of a set of extremist views- for so long we’ve tolerated so much violence that it’s just pushing, toeing the line a little bit more, how much can people get away with before we do something- and it’s a lot. People can get away with a lot.”