Students and teachers share their thoughts on the polarization of politics.

“Uhh, huh. Wait, WHAT?” is a reaction that AP Government teacher Ben Recktenwald sometimes encounters during discussions about political affiliation— he’s very liberal, but he’s not a Democrat. Recktenwald is a registered Green Party member. The Green Party is a left-wing minority in California that received 0.66 percent of popular vote in California in the 2012 presidential election. For Recktenwald, being part of the Green Party can be really frustrating because the Green Party is so small that it does not have the majority required to win positions.

“Sometimes it does feel kind of futile. As far as my view of politics as a whole, I just have to accept the fact that I am not going to win; my party is not going to win. To a certain extent that means that I am disillusioned with politics in America,” Recktenwald said.

APUSH teacher Margaret Platt is also disappointed with the state of political affairs in the United States.

“They have gone off of the rails,”Platt said, regarding the Republican Party.

She currently does not support either the Democrats or Republicans and considers herself an independent. Platt believes that our government has abused its power and has deviated from the basic principles outlined in the Constitution. She thinks that there is social pressure on individuals to align themselves with the popular political parties, even if they do not know about or agree with the party’s position on pertinent issues. Political parties have compromised values in order to have greater mass appeal.

“This is supposed to be a country where everyone has their voice heard. When I vote for my party, I know that my voice is not going to be heard,” Recktenwald said.

Recktenwald continues to be part of a political minority because he does not want to compromise his beliefs.

“Partly, I’m just stubborn. I’m not going to admit defeat. There is a common phrase, ‘if you don’t vote Democrat or Republican, you are wasting your vote.’ I’ve always felt that if I don’t vote for someone that I believe in, I am wasting my vote,” Recktenwald said.

Recktenwald values long term adherence to his beliefs more than the transient success of being part of the winning party. Although he notes that his voice will generally go unheard since he supports a minority, Recktenwald believes that political minorities can influence mainstream politics by taking votes away from the major parties. Therefore, the two major parties sometimes change or alter their positions in order to appeal to the independents or minority parties, since having the votes from these groups can often be the margin that can determine a victory in an election. Being a political minority has also affected Recktenwald as an individual.

“I think that it helps keep me grounded. I can’t take for granted that what I want is going to happen. I have a certain streak in my personality where I want to do what I want to do. If it was not the Green Party, I would have found another party that fits my views,” Recktenwald said.

Platt is a person who will stand up for what she believes is right; however, she does not always express her opinion about politics. When she is with people that she does not know well, Platt sometimes suppresses her opinions.

“If there is not already a relationship of mutual respect, if there is not a friendship, you can easily get stereotyped, if you just say what you think. People don’t really know who you are and where you are coming from. These are situations that I try to avoid. I just don’t speak up. I don’t want to be stereotyped,” Platt said.

Platt believes liberals stereotype conservatives and conservatives stereotype liberals. It goes both ways. Platt and Recktenwald have different beliefs and values, but they agree that the two major parties are not meeting their expectations. The labels created by the existence of political parties can be harmful to everyone, if unchecked. To appeal to the widest possible range of people, parties often focus more on generating polarized emotional responses, instead of educating the public on the nuances of important issues.

“You are expected to be liberal [at MVHS],” junior Aaron Chen said.

He has experienced the effects of unfounded political judgements first hand. He considers himself a moderate and is not an active participant or supporter of any political party; however, he has experienced discrimination that stemmed from false assumptions of about his political affiliation.

It all started in Chen’s art class at MVHS. Teacher Jay Shelton had been discussing current events pertaining to Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. Shelton asked the class about their interest and connection to this recent development. Chen raised his hand to affirm that he had heard about this event and indicated that he was Catholic. This was the start of an onslaught of personal attacks on Chen.

“[Students] began giving me disapproving and hostile looks,” Chen said.

Also, Chen felt that certain classmates avoided him and refused to speak with him. Chen attributes the ostracization to the perceived political implications of his religious affiliation.

Since many Catholics are socially conservative, Chen believes that students assumed that he did not support same sex marriage solely because of his religious identification. Because of these perceived discrepancies of values, these students then made assumptions about Chen’s character and personality. Chen says that some student advocates of same sex marriage avoided interacting with him solely because of their perception of his opinions and values.

In fact, Chen does support gay marriage. Chen believes that these staunch advocates of same sex marriage stigmatized his entire personality because of false assumptions based on the labels of Conservative and Catholic. No single label determines the entirely of his personality, opinions, and values.