Following the presidential election, an apparent uprise in criticism has sparked conflict within social groups, leaving true friends quarrelling as to why politics take precedence over their relationship. 

These disputes mainly occur on platforms such as Instagram, X and Fizz—an anonymous forum app tailored toward university students. 

A recent anonymous post on Central Connecticut State University’s Fizz Social, which garnered 1,100 upvotes, said,  “I don’t want to be friends with you if you voted for a racist sexist rapist.”  

Albeit most upvotes on Fizz are artificial, the sentiment among posts like these—and there are plenty more—is extremely concerning considering the number of interactions they attract.  

No matter which president is being alluded to, we can immediately disregard this and similar statements as fallacious, since neither presidential candidate resemble the traits mentioned.  

This apparent immaturity, naivety and close-mindedness in voters who cannot seem to grasp the concept of acceptance leads us to believe that the protagonists of this wildly scathing friendship-ending madness are only shooting themselves in the foot by abandoning those who probably know more about politics than they do. 

Although morals and political stances may seem interconnected at surface level, they surely are not. Relationships are formed, maintained and culminated on a moral basis, with the most passionate relationships possessing symmetric moral compasses.  

By contrast, politics resemble a mere fraction of one’s morality—if any—since political views focus on policy, governance, and societal structure, often with economic implications being a primary factor for decision making. Moral views are derived from one’s personal beliefs, including justice, compassion and integrity, despite any political or economic implications.  

Establishing and terminating friendships based on the latter is far more important than focusing on politics, but a lack of understanding between the two is contributing to unnecessary altercation among groups.  

Whether this ignorance is intentional or inadvertent, those judging others based on one-dimensional attitudes are a testament to their self-destructing nature, destroying anyone and anything in their path that dares to oppose their beliefs.