Debatable is a column written by the Otago University Debating Society. The Debating Society welcomes new members and meets at the Business School every Tuesday at 6pm.
For
When you’re in a relationship with someone, you don’t want to be the same person. Being the same person looks like having the same interests, the same hobbies, and the same political opinion. This is boring. It’s stagnant. Nothing happens.
Imagine you’re in one of these relationships. You have a fight with your partner about whether tax cuts for the rich are more important or whether the marginalised people in society actually deserve something more than poverty. You fight, you make up, you don’t break up because imagine the shame in breaking up over politics: “It's not you, it's your stance on health-care reform.” You learn to resolve conflicts, and now your relationship is even stronger – a power couple, even. Toxic relationships are a good opportunity for learning. And nothing says “toxic” like politics.
This robustness works to achieve positive outcomes (depending on the election result) but also for the relationship. Now, when you watch political dramas with your partner, you can both be rooting for the other side. This engagement in the show, and then logically with each other, manifests in more quality time being spent with each other, a greater political awareness (making those dinners with the in-laws a little less stressful) and also, you’ll basically win every political debate with any other person because you’ll be so well versed (again, power couple).
Plus, there’s nothing wrong with exposure to different perspectives and political views. It can be only too easy to become stuck inside an echo chamber that bounces our own views back to us, without critically thinking about dissenting opinions. A healthy society is one of debate, not burying our heads in the sand and mindlessly repeating the same shit on you and your partners’ synced social media feeds back to one another.
A relationship where you don’t vote the same is most definitely possible. It’s actually probably a good thing.
Against
Enemies to lovers might be hot on BookTok, but it just doesn't work in real life. When you take a sticker from Campus Greens that says ‘I only date people who Vote Green’, it's telling you what you already know – your future partner is not that cute guy with a ‘Live, Laugh, Luxon’ sticker on his laptop.
Aligning your values with your partner is important. This isn’t like disagreeing over flavours of ice cream, or Android vs iPhone (although relationships have been lost over less than the dreaded green bubble). If you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you should agree on the fundamentals, like what you stand for and what you don't. People have really strong opinions on politics because it's important to them, and it affects every aspect of our lives. You can't feasibly have a lasting relationship with someone who disagrees with your values. It's doomed to end.
If you're still not convinced, here's another argument: your relationship. Get it? Your relationship will be one long never-ending argument. It's like a built-in game of tug-of-war in your love life. You'll never run out of topics for those long car rides, late night chats or awkward silences. It may feel exciting at first, but over the course of these never ending fights you’ll become absolutely sick of your partner. I think we can all agree that if there's one thing people love arguing about, it's politics; and if there's one thing you hate in a relationship, it's arguing. You get the point.
At the end of the day, you and your soulmate have the same favourite Chris, because the boxes they tick on the election ballot should be the boxes they tick for you, too.