It's mostly cathartic though. Sure, we all be peasants for the most part, but everyone eats up politics because it gives them the feeling that their problems aren't just some complicated doom they have to be faced with, but that there is some easy change they can make that'll improve everything if they can just get that change past the opposing side. And that's fine, because even if most people have a simplistic view, the world can be changed and it isn't a bad thing that people make an effort to effect that change. It sucks some people can't grow up and separate their political views from the rest of their social lives though; I know plenty of conservative people, but our political differences don't strain our relationships. If I think a person can't handle a disagreement, I don't bring up the subject.

That being said, don't get caught in that trap where you think the truth is this hidden nugget always found in the most safely unbiased place. It is true that biases exist in the teaching of history, though if you go to higher education you will most likely get the closest thing to a truth that history can possess (some teachers might try to spin it, but the hardcore focus on histiography dampens the effect quite a bit). The reality is that sometimes, the truth is biased. Truth surely as hell seems to be biased against fascism, for instance. The middle ground isn't always right just because it is emotionally safe.