Where do you go when the country is divided and you’re stuck somewhere in the middle?

It’s a scary time to be an American. Regardless of your political preferences, both the liberals and the conservatives are angry and outspoken for one reason or another and the internet is readily available for any nut job to go off on a politically charged tangent.

People from all around the world are protesting for all sorts of reasons: Human rights, women’s rights, pro-life rights, pro-choice rights, gay and transgender rights, and for or against our new leader. And now the travel ban, which had prohibited legal U.S. residents (green card holders) from returning home last weekend.

There’s nothing wrong with nonviolent protest; the American Revolution sparked and the United States of America was born after tax protesters dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

However, the unknown and the chaos is scary. What do we believe? How do we hold onto hope without destroying our humanity in the process? If you support some causes but not others, what does that make you?

The labels that we attach to generalize groups are not always accurate and they are damaging to the messages that people are trying to relay.

You can be a feminist while being anti-Hillary. You can be pro-choice and pro-Trump. You can value and support the lives of police officers and march with Black Lives Matter. You can want safety and national security without discriminating against an entire religion.

Why are we labeling everyone based on the beliefs or causes that they stand for? Why are we constantly pressured to choose a “side” or assigned one by those who don’t choose to listen to ideas because they don’t go hand-in-hand with their own? If we are for something, why is it automatically assumed we are against something else? Why can’t we have productive conversations to find a compromise? Why can’t we find common ground to come together and make progressive change instead of tearing at each other’s throats because of our petty differences?

I believe that the working class has gotten the short end of the stick for decades while the rich get richer.

I believe veterans have been neglected and deserve better access to healthcare treatment and financial support.

I believe that all immigrants should go through a process to become American citizens or legal residents as the majority of our ancestors did and not live here illegally. I believe there should be stricter standards of vetting to acquire a US visa.

I believe American citizens should have more job opportunities and corporations should have restrictions on outsourcing.

I believe in the right to own a gun, given that you’re mentally stable and have no violent criminal history.

I also believe in the right to freedom of speech.

President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”

Forget democrat or republican. If we don’t have the right to question our government no matter which party is in charge, then who’s going to stop elected officials from abusing power?

We all have the right to express our beliefs and should give and receive the respect of those with opposing arguments when we can’t agree. But first and foremost, we have the right, to tell the truth and call out the government when they no longer serve the good of all citizens.

I believe that all Americans should have access to cheaper and better healthcare; that a woman should be able to make choices about her body, especially regarding her sexual and overall health. I believe that sex crimes should be punished more harshly than drug crimes in the court of law, given the nature and magnitude of the individual crime; that the LGBTQ community should have equal rights as well as every single American of every color, race, and religion. I believe in the freedom to protest peacefully.

I believe in equal pay for equal work. I also believe that all Americans, male or female, deserve a better maternity/paternity leave system.

I believe in quality education and easier access to scholarships and student loans with better borrowing rates and more opportunity for debt forgiveness.

So, some of you may read this and label me a liberal, a conservative, a spoiled millennial, feminist, etc. But I’m just a person who has these beliefs based on my own experiences and subjective reasoning. I’m not going to burn buildings and bash cars and windows because all of these things aren’t available all at once. I’m not going to argue with strangers on social media about which one of us is “right” about certain issues. I am not going to disrespect those who disagree with my beliefs because they have gone through their own experiences and reasoning.

Instead, I will carry on with my day to day life and overcome challenges as they present themselves. I will stand and support all humans when they are being treated unfairly, regardless of race, social class, or religion.

I will question each and every branch of government and raise my voice when I feel that the government is not working for all people. I will promote positivity everywhere I go. I will listen-not just wait to speak, but actually listen-to other peoples thoughts and feelings on such topics because that is how progress is made: By listening to ideas that do not always coincide with your own.

We don’t have to agree on everything. But we should respect each other and each others’ individual values and be able to talk openly about it. That is the only way for unity to be achieved and social progress to be made.