{"id":163,"date":"2025-09-15T23:58:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/15\/left-and-right-leaning-people-trade-compliments\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T23:58:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:58:00","slug":"left-and-right-leaning-people-trade-compliments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/15\/left-and-right-leaning-people-trade-compliments\/","title":{"rendered":"Folks on ‘left’ and ‘right’ share one thing they respect about one another. It’s giving hope."},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States feels on edge right now, with passions running high and partisanized rhetoric<\/a> ramping up in the days following Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah. For non-extremists,<\/a> it’s disheartening to see people on both “the left” and “the right”<\/a> being painted in sweeping brush strokes filled with vitriol. <\/p>

Most of us don’t live like this in our everyday lives. Most of us don’t live at extremes and are capable of nuanced thought<\/a>. We acknowledge that the world’s problems are complex and know that we aren’t always going to agree on every solution. While we may disagree, sometimes vehemently, we don’t paint half of our fellow Americans as the enemy. <\/p>

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Political polarization is out of control. It doesn't have to be this way. Photo credit: Canva<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>

A woman in Utah, Ashley Rankin, was feeling overwhelmed and confused about the state of the country when she decided to make a video plea for compassion and understanding. “While recording, I zoned out for a second and my face perfectly captured how I felt in that moment,” she tells Upworthy. “I dropped the words and thought, rather than telling people to spread love, hope, and compassion, I want to see what they will do, when presented with the opportunity.”<\/p>

So she overlayed her few-second video<\/a> with “If you lean left, tell me something you respect about the right. If you lean right, tell me something you respect about the left,” adding, “Let’s spread hope.” She asked viewers to fill her comments with positivity, and in a miraculous flip of the script we so often see online, people delivered exactly what she asked for. <\/p> \n

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@gynamite_<\/a>

Please fill my comments with positivity! I live in Utah and things feel heavy here. #bridgingthedivide<\/a> #HopeInHumanity<\/a> #BetterTogether<\/a> #UtahCommunity<\/a> #positive<\/a> <\/p> \u266c Where Is The Love? – The Black Eyed Peas<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>