Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s exactly what I meant by letting politics dominate one’s life.

I believe that a person’s morals and values can be assessed and expressed in a more meaningful way through their actions and words in day-to-day life than by looking at their political beliefs. In other words seeing how a person treats the people around them, how they handle adversity, and how they enjoy life matters more than making sure they agree with you on issues X,Y, and Z.

Sometimes political beliefs do indicate core differences in values. A great example is differences in opinion on welfare policies. This indicates different ideas about the role personal responsibility vs the role outside forces play on people’s lives.

My argument is that that sort of difference in ideals would become apparent very quickly without relying on political ideology to define it. Doing so shuts out any possibility of nuance and immediately turns slight differences of ideals and values into a larger, more hostile “us against them” issue. You’re not dealing with a person with a slightly different perspective anymore, you’re dealing with “the enemy”.