You are presumably a very opinionated person. That is entirely discernible, and we all are to some extent. Whether it's sports, politics, etc., we are all opinionated in one way or another. However, whenever we consult our sentiments with one another, a figurative smog spoils the ambiance, an odor so foul it's practically palpable. This tangible tension is seldom relieved in the absence of consensus or mutuality. When mutuality is missing, the unwritten manifesto of polarization carries out its biddings. This polarization is so magnetic that the Populus repel one another over even the most minor peccadillo. It is both a splendor and a miracle that the laws of physics don't transduce into sociology or social psychology.  If they did, even the long-feared doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction would falter compared to the earth-ripping haul of polarized disagreement. Two civilizations foreign to the concept of tranquility and harmony would lobotomize our world and send us spiraling to self-destruction. A conflict with no victor or virtue, and if we ignore this possibility, it may be knocking on our doorstep sooner than we think. 

Doomsday hypotheses aside, society has grappled with this polarization crisis much longer than it should. For the better half of a decade, America, let alone civilization, has seldom prided itself on prudence and respect. Instead, we opt for mud shooting and scapegoats over reason and understanding of societal divisions. Nothing seems to quell the maelstrom of disagreement and reciprocal hatred. The last time America fell victim to such divergence transpired in 1865, at the end of the American Civil War. With each waning minute, the distance between factions elongates like the seafloor of the Atlantic. It is paramount to invert this terraforming of society before the ground wears too thin, allowing the fiery pit of mutual hatred to engulf us. A civilization of Guelphs and Ghibellines is a civilization tried and failed. History orients us on how to resist the ordinances of repetition. The same laws reverberated in Einstein's connotation of insanity. Repeating the same actions continually and anticipating different outcomes is insanity. Avoidance of these principles can only come from a sweeping shift in our societal values. A renewed set of values must play out. The same values that we overlooked years ago are the key to tranquility: the doctrine of respect. 

Our cognition has fallen victim to the falsification of suspicion rerouted by our media, extremists, and political leaders across the political spectrum. They convince us the opposition is bloodthirsty and would take advantage of us the second they get the opportunity. Because of this, we don't give leeway to one another. One conveys an assertion, then the other interjects. One interjects, then the other exhibits aggression. Because of this, we regress to primal whims of clamoring and blurting, driving us further into our own beliefs. We become blinded by turmoil and distaste for any assertion foreign to our intellect. If we wish to combat this consequence, we must establish the ordinances of regard and mutuality. We must permit one another to object to our ideals and facilitate their own without hostility. We must re-establish the purpose of peaceful dissent and remember to intercommunicate again. We must push back against the currents shifting us into the deep ends of opinion. What does it convey about us as humans if we can't do as much as commute our sentiments without weaponizing them to inundate the opposition? How can we contend we advocate morality while concurrently ignoring the foundations of American Democracy? What is it to champion free speech and opinion while declaring one alien? If the human aptitude for communication is compromised and the laws of conversation voided, how can we progress toward harmony? If we can't agree to have a conversation, then there's no chance to agree on anything at all.

There is no one faction liable for this issue. All parties are guilty. I urge you as the reader to take careful consideration of your discussions with other people and remember our shared trait of being human. A difference in cognition doesn't deem someone lesser. The next time you get into a disagreement, be mutual and agreeable rather than conflictual. Only then we can once again be whole.