Divided or United States of America?

By: Mackenzie Ferguson

One of the greatest challenges to America today is the polarization that is plaguing our politics. Today in Indianola, Iowa at a Joe Biden rally, he spoke about the divisiveness that keeps political parties from understanding one another and working together for the greater benefit of America. Biden talked about the difference between the way Republicans and Democrats have grown apart since when he was first in the Senate. When he started out in the Senate, Biden would argue with the opposing political party, but they would always put those differences aside after leaving Congress.

Being able to attend several rallies throughout our time in Iowa, I have been able to engage with several of Elon University’s Global Engagement Learning Goals. One specific goal that I have engaged with is being able to “examine your responsibilities as an active global citizen informed by multiple perspectives”. Critically analyzing every candidate based on their rallies has helped to inform me of the right candidate for myself because I was able to see multiple perspectives of the candidates. This trip has also helped me to examine my responsibilities as an active global citizen, as I have seen the importance and the impact of political advocacy and engagement. Candidates cannot gain the reputation, money, and importance that they do without volunteers. Every act of political engagement from donating a couple dollars, knocking on doors, or phone banking for a certain candidate makes a difference and helps one to become an active global citizen. Without attending several rallies in order to compare candidates and gain several perspectives of the candidates besides their image on television, I would not have been as informed a citizen or voter that I could be.

A part of being an active global citizen is also being nationally informed. Without understanding what is happening in your own country, there is no way for you to be an active global citizen. That is why Study USA is so important. While one can go abroad and have a life changing experience by examining their own culture and bias, learning within one’s own country helps citizens to be a better global citizen by seeing several perspectives they might have not seen before. This trip specifically has helped me to become more politically engaged and informed, and therefore made me both a better American citizen and global citizen.

This entire experience in Iowa has me contemplating how and when American politics have become divided to the point where we cannot respect other’s opinions even if we don’t necessarily agree with them. While everyone has a different opinion on policy and the way the government should influence the lives of Americans, at the end of the day we are all Americans. Without disagreement America would be static and would never progress forward. Without disagreement there would be no compromise, and without compromise there would be no way to progress forward together as a nation.