Ryan Benjamin | Lend them your ears

When was the last time you Democrats listened to Sean Hannity? Pat Buchanan? Anything you disagreed with?

Shame on the politicians and shame on us for exacerbating a culture of intellectual self-appeasement. It's abundantly simple to believe what you hear and in turn seek out more sources - and more people - who confirm your beliefs. But it's irresponsible and contributes to the divisiveness in which we find ourselves today.

What do I mean? Look at the way we talk to each other about politics. In many places "a liberal" is an insult, and on this campus "conservative" doesn't fly too well either. What bothers me most is when I hear people say they could never be friends with - gasp - a Republican. A recent Facebook friend's status noted his desire to "eradicate the GOP." Come on, they're not that bad.

Stop and think for a minute about why you believe the things you do. Your parents? Peers? Maybe you've legitimately researched every political issue and decided you're on the correct side.

Despite what you may think, it's fairly easy to listen to the other side. Though I'm nowhere near a perfect rating from the American Conservative Union, every day on the ride home from high school I listened to Rush Limbaugh - yes, that Rush. I chose to listen because I felt an obligation to understand the other side. Through engaging with his program (aka, yelling at the radio) I developed my own talking points against conservative stands.

And some of my most important lessons come from friends and family on the opposite side because they challenge me, causing me to change my own stale viewpoints on a number of occasions.

Campaigns have become artificially simpler by focusing solely on red states and blue states, which masks the true complexity of nearly every issue facing this country. But the truth is that Republicans and Democrats aren't that different. We're neighbors and co-workers. We share the same American values.

Then why do we automatically hate the other side? Because it's easy to lump every issue into two categories and two parties. It took me a long time to realize that you can disagree with some but not all of an issue - that you can be pro-choice and still be against partial birth abortion, for example. You hate Bush? You probably hate No Child Left Behind too, even though it's one of the most significant pieces of education legislation in a long time.

It wasn't always this way. When Political Science professor John DiIulio was a senior fellow at both the Brookings Institute and the Manhattan Institute, two think-tanks on opposite sides of the political spectrum, his colleagues often read - and sometimes wrote for - the other side. "Today, however, the liberal and conservative intelligentsia think, write and talk past each other," he said, adding that "even at great universities like ours we are not always so cognizant or conscientious about ensuring that ideas and ideals held by diverse demographic and political cohorts are represented or acknowledged. . "

He argues that the elites, the ones at the top of the media and politics, are more polarized than the common folk. He's right. There are now six states where independents outnumber registered Republicans and Democrats, and the number is growing.

Washington is broken for a reason. It's because of both parties. If you think the Republicans are filibustering too much, the Democrats used to do it too. Everyone shares in the credit, everyone shares in the blame. This country becomes more fractured by the minute, and the divisive culture in Washington may be indicative of our refusal to listen to alternative viewpoints. It's our duty as college students and the future generation of this country to stop it.

Yes, the political platforms vary and there are genuine differences between the parties, but we must begin to understand the rationale behind why our "enemies" believe what they do. So turn on Bill O'Reilly even though he drives you crazy, because there's always something new to learn.

Ryan Benjamin is a College senior from New Haven, Conn. His email is benjamin@dailypennsylvanian.com. A Connecticut Yankee appears on alternating Mondays.

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