How to Reduce Polarization and Political Bias

We live in a hyper-polarized era in which people judge and demonize each other. Most people live in an echo chamber and have closed their minds to opposing viewpoints. I decided to write this blog because I was horrified by how toxic our political environment has become. Everyone has political bias they need to evaluate, including you and me. My goal is for you to reevaluate your entire view of politics. I hope to help you recognize any biases you may have and listen to other viewpoints you normally don’t hear.

This Blog was Created to Help Reduce Political Bias

Just to make a disclaimer, I am not without political bias. My blog is called Political Nonpartisan, not because I am unbiased, but because nonpartisanship is a goal that I am striving towards. I hope my articles help create a nonpartisan society. I grew up as a Republican and I have held onto many biases. However, I am trying to be more objective and open-minded.

Throughout my blog, I am going to tell readers what they can personally do to improve the political climate we live in. There are many things you can’t control, but there are some things you can. Systemic change in politics, especially in reducing polarization, requires everyone to make individual changes in their actions and attitudes. Even if this blog just helps one person to change their perspective, I believe it can help improve our polarized political climate.

As you study different issues, you should come to your own conclusions. I don’t expect you to change all your beliefs, but maybe you will change your mind on some policies. No matter what conclusions you come to, I hope you have a greater appreciation for other people’s beliefs.

Here are 3 things things you can do to reduce any political bias you may have:

1. Consume Media From All Sides of the Political Spectrum

A Balanced diet of media consumption helps reduce political bias — *Balanced diet of media consumption* helps reduce political bias

The first and most important step in recognizing our political bias is to have a balanced diet of media consumption. Most people live in an echo chamber by only watching media that confirms their biases. Furthermore, they watch the corporate mainstream media, which often puts profit over accurate journalism. It pushes narratives to turn conservatives and liberals against each other. There is a great book about this phenomenon called Hate Inc. For this reason, I usually rely on independent left and right-wing commentators for political analysis.

In 2018, I started watching podcasts from people with a variety of viewpoints, not just conservatives. The podcasts I watch include people from all parts of the political spectrum.

I believe that people from both the left and right have good ideas that we can learn from. As I have listened to different opinions, I have changed my mind on several policy positions. Below I have a list of political commentators and YouTube channels on both the right and left that I recommend:

Right-wing Sources

Left-wing Sources

Listening to Alternate Viewpoints Has Changed My Perspective

The lists above are by no means comprehensive. I encourage you to find other commentators on the right and left to listen to. All of these commentators listed above have some form of political bias, some more than others, but I think they are worth listening to because of their unique perspectives.

I don’t agree with everything these people say, especially on the left. When I started alternating between conservative and progressive YouTube channels, I resisted taking a critical look at some of the left-leaning positions I heard. At first, I dug my heels in and became more cemented in my beliefs. However, as I worked to throw out my preconceived notions, I found some teachings that made sense. When I opened my mind, I was able to slowly reduce my political bias. I didn’t completely transform into a leftist. I still have several conservative beliefs. However, I can think of several policies I changed my mind on. I took teachings from both the left and the right to inform my way of thinking.

This experience has helped make me more balanced and informed. I feel I am better able to understand both sides of an argument. Now I am more critical of my own policy positions. I recommend watching at least the first 5 on each of the lists. If you are conservative, add the ones from the left-leaning list to your watchlist. If you are liberal, watch the conservative channels. Try to balance equally between right and left-leaning commentators.

2. Don’t Assume People Who Disagree With You Have Bad Intentions

*Be careful not to misjudge and assume the intentions of people with whom you disagree*

Conservatives and Liberals view the world very differently. When they discuss politics, it is like two people speaking completely different languages. Their worldview is based on their different life experiences and the type of media they consume. Therefore, they have a hard time understanding each other’s views on political issues. Though they may share some common morals and beliefs, there are several issues that they differ on, such as abortion, gun rights, immigration, and economic policy.

Instead of sincerely trying to understand someone’s political stance, they assume that the other person must be morally depraved because they don’t view the world the same way.

When people differ on political issues, they often vilify each other. They may believe that the other side is pushing for policies to try to destroy the country or hurt specific people in the community. This vilification of the other side destroys political discourse and prevents people from talking through their issues.

Here are some examples to illustrate how people make false assumptions about others:

Examples of False Assumptions About Others

When conservatives share their pro-life views, I have heard some liberals say that pro-life views are just an excuse to control women’s bodies and deprive them of their rights. In my experience, the vast majority of conservatives believe that they are preserving human life by opposing abortion. It has nothing to do with depriving women of their rights.

When liberals say they are in favor of different government programs, many conservatives assume all liberals are in favor of a communist system where wealth is perfectly distributed and lazy people are given handouts they don’t deserve. I have found that many conservatives have an oversimpified view of liberal beliefs on welfare and the role of government.

When people voted for Trump in 2016, I heard many liberals say that those who voted for Trump were racist and xenophobic. They believed that Trump voters wanted to hurt minorities and women. However, I know a lot of Trump voters, and they cast their votes for a variety of reasons. They genuinely believed that Trump would be the best candidate for the country as a whole. Many liberals just assumed people’s rationale behind their Trump vote.

People Who Think Differently Are Not the Enemy

What I have found is that most people want what is best for the community and the country. As a society, we need to trust that most people have good intentions. If we don’t understand why someone has a particular political stance, it is best to talk with them and ask them why. If you believe their reasoning is faulty, it is better to ascribe their faulty logic to ignorance rather than malice.

You don’t need to agree with people who think differently. You just shouldn’t vilify them for sincerely held beliefs. If we take time to understand the world the way others do, we will stop seeing each other as monsters and more as people with different perspectives. If you listen to someone and still think they are misguided, you should not be angry at the individual, but rather the system that keeps people ignorant.

3. Be Careful How You Label Individuals and Groups

I have seen a growing tendency of people to use extreme labels to smear a person or an entire group. Some terms I have heard people use as labels are fascist, racist, bigot, white nationalist, communist, Marxist, socialist, dictator, authoritarian, and nazi.

I am not at all implying that these terms should be banned. Actually, these terms are valid labels to use in certain circumstances. There are currently many nazi and white nationalist groups in the US, as well as groups that self-identify as Marxist and communist. However, people often use these terms indiscriminately without thinking. Most people don’t fit under these labels. Political commentators are especially guilty of this. I hear democratic commentators label the entire republican party as nazis and racists and republican commentators label the entire democratic party as communists and socialists.

When I hear these labels used, I tend to be skeptical. I have heard these terms so often in the wrong context that they lose all meaning. People often don’t understand the meaning of these words. In the past, I have even made the mistake of incorrectly labeling people. Using these terms incorrectly or making generalizations about a population is harmful to our political discourse. I challenge everyone to study these terms and their historical context so they can be more careful in using them.

Concluding Thoughts

*Liberals and conservatives should civilly discuss their differences*

The process of studying others’ beliefs and recognizing your own political bias takes humility and patience. Opening your mind can take time. People have partisanship deeply ingrained in them, so it is natural to have a visceral reaction to listening to opposing views. However, over time you will learn to understand others’ beliefs better.

Listening to others is the way we can improve our political discourse. We will never agree on everything, but we can appreciate each others’ different beliefs, and maybe even find common ground on some issues. We don’t need to despise each other. This is the way to bring the country back together.

There is nothing that scares the political and corporate elites more than people on the left and right uniting to change the system. This is why our politicians and the media seek to divide us. Divided, we are too distracted fighting each other to fix the corrupt system. Learning to unite on key issues is the only way to fix our country.

Political Polarization