This conversation features two students from the . When Alex and Bethany came together for a One Small Step conversation, they considered themselves very different from one another politically.
Bethany: My name is Bethany. I'm 23. I'm in Essex, Vermont.
Alex: I'm Alex Amsden. I'm 19 years old. I'm currently in Burlington, Vermont, at the University of Vermont.
I would describe my personal political values as conservative. I don't really consider myself a Republican or align myself with the Republican Party as much.
Bethany: Sometimes I feel that way about being a Democrat, sometimes I do feel more progressive. And sometimes I get mad at the Democratic Party, or I'll be like, why are we doing this? And when it comes down to it, I usually vote Democrat.
Alex: When I came to UVM, last year, I had never identified myself openly as a conservative before. I just so happened to pick one of the most left leaning schools in the United States of America. When I walk around UVM, there is kind of this like, aggressive nature towards conservative people. Like that was one of the reasons why I wanted to sign up for this conversation is because I knew that it was just going to be a conversation. Not a Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro debate-like, smackdown.
Bethany: I would have one-hundred percent thought I would be paired with an old white man from Fairfax. I'm not gonna lie to you. And I bond with old men very well. So I was ready. And then they said, it's this young woman from your college. So I got scared. I'm gonna hear from a peer who has totally different beliefs than me and is going to make me feel like I am crazy or like that my beliefs are wrong, but you did not do that. So I really appreciate that.
Alex: I never really heard the term progressive other than in relation to before moving to Vermont. When I think of progressivism, I kind of think of Bernie Sanders, climate change and Medicare for all. So what does it mean to you?
Bethany: Climate change is a big thing. I am very scared of climate change and how it's affecting us. I can't think about it too much because it brings me such fear. And then I get angry because I'm like, Okay, we're not living the way we need to be living so that the planet can survive.
Alex: I do believe that it is real. I just I don't believe in the term that's been coined as the climate alarmism. I believe that we take it one step every day and we try to make less pollution and we try to live more sustainably. But I don't have the same worries or fear that you have.
Bethany: I want the planet to be here, and humans to live on the planet in 100 years, 200 years. And I just want sometimes to see more justice. Sometimes I even hesitate to align myself on the political spectrum.
Alex: If you bring respect to the table a conversation can be had.
Bethany: At the end of the day, we're all people who want what's best for the world,e ven if we disagree on what that is.
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