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Division is in the eye of the beholder. Really, I think the only time the country was really united was during WWII when we were blatantly attacked by a foreign power. Then revenge united us. After, good feeling persisted through the 1950's, but natural divisions reasserted themselves afterwards. 9/11 was another uniting experience, though more short lived.
It isn't natural for a country as large and diverse as the US to feel "united". Montanans have less in common with Georgians than with other Montanans and it has nothing to do with artificial state boundaries and everything to do with their physical environment. Blacks hang around more with blacks, whites with whites, and within the races there are ethnicities that hang around more with their own types than others. That's the way the US is, the way Russia, India and China are. All big countries that have diverse peoples living in them are susceptible to the same divisions. They are natural and precede national allegiances both in time and in feeling.
You might like this insightful article from Michael Barone; the notion that America in the middle third of the 20th century was culturally cohesive and there was a unified "mainstream" that rendered different regions and classes of the country homogenous, in contrast to every other period in American history, explains a lot about that period in time. Electorally, the period roughly from the Great Depression to the 1980's was the only time in history when most states were swing states and switched party allegiances frequently depending on national winds; partisanship was also low during the mid 20th century, with conservatives, moderates, and liberal wings existing in both major parties.
What people who remember that era fail to grasp about it is that it was perhaps the most anomalous time in American history in these respects. The norm throughout American history has been division and diversity at all levels, with high levels of partisanship and relatively durable political allegiances in states and localities, coupled with sharp disagreements and differences about values, culture, language*, and the role of government. That's a big reason why states reserved primary political power with central government limited to a few delegated powers. One-size-fits-all policies were not have been successful in that environment; they had to wait until the country could come to a consensus on what size fit all states, and that didn't occur until the 20th century. Now that America is returning to its historical roots as a divided and richly diverse country, strong central government is less able to satisfy the needs of a consensus of Americans.
*English was always the lingua franca and the most common language, but before the 20th century large populations existed that spoke Spanish, French, Dutch, Scandinavian languages, or German as their mother tongue; it was common in the 19th century to be educated in a language besides English, and most of these languages had their own newspapers and literature. President Martin Van Buren's mother tongue was Dutch (he learned English in school). These other cultures had English artificially imposed on them starting during the Civil War and progressing thereafter until "English only" became the norm in the 1950's; linguistic diversity has been gradually reappearing since. Southerners today are predisposed to favoring "English only"; however, antebellum Louisiana was francophone, and Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard didn't even learn English until age 12 when he was sent to a school in NYC. Confederates didn't seem to bat an eye at any of this, and they didn't seem to be the least bit concerned about annexing large swaths of Spanish-speaking territory; the Indian blood of the Mexicans was a much larger concern than their language, the exact opposite of the modern Southern viewpoint. Go figure.
bek many wish to rewrite history more to their own liking. many wish to rewrite interpret conflict and incidents more to their own liking. lots of 1984 reinvention of language. the old america does not buy it, only the young accept 1984 think speak. we have gotten rid of some really bad things in the last 40 years and gotten rid of some really good things and replaced them with lots and lots of injustice and barbaric behavior.
The first federal election I can remember was 1960. Reps and Dems hated each other as much then as they do now. Nothing has changed in that area.
Back then, Republicans and Democrats often had "happy hour" with each other, attended parties together, played golf together, got to know each other as human beings--and hammered out compromises outside the chambers. That went on up until Newt Gingrich made it forbidden for Republicans to have anything to do with Democrats outside of chambers.
For those of you who honestly say that this country is more divided than it has ever been, please tell me... HOW? It's a simple question.
How in the hell is this country more divided now than it was during the Revolutionary War when there were many people still loyal to the British crown? How is it more divided than it was during the Civil War? How is it more divided than it was during the tumultuous times of the 1960's? Even just 20 years ago with the Rodney King verdict and OJ Trial, you mean to tell me that it's more divided NOW?
Seriously.
The country isn't divided, its the people who are crazy obsessed with politics... (NOT everyone who follows politics, many people who follow politics are open minded and get along with people who don't agree with their views).
The people who look at everything in life in blue and red, blue state this red state that, liberal city this conservative city that, "oh no we can never go to Arizona, too many rednecks" "i'll never go to that liberal piece of sh-t, Chicago"
these people are a minority.
most people either don't care about politics, only into politics during election season or are just open minded and are cool with other peoples views...
The country isn't divided, its the people who are crazy obsessed with politics... (NOT everyone who follows politics, many people who follow politics are open minded and get along with people who don't agree with their views).
The people who look at everything in life in blue and red, blue state this red state that, liberal city this conservative city that, "oh no we can never go to Arizona, too many rednecks" "i'll never go to that liberal piece of sh-t, Chicago"
these people are a minority.
most people either don't care about politics, only into politics during election season or are just open minded and are cool with other peoples views...
Is this country more divided then ever? Perhaps-perhaps not. Back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, you only saw some of it-and that was usually only from 5-7 p.m. when the news was on. The difference today is that we have a 24 hour news cycle. Everyone gets a chance to state their opinion (like we are doing here). It may have been there all along but now you actually SEE the polarization of opinions.
We are bombarded with opinions left & right from t.v. newspapers, the internet, etc. Instead of trying to find some kind of common ground people seem to think it is ALL or NOTHING. And if you don't agree then you must be the enemy. I think a lot of has to do with lack of respect. People don't seem to respect one another. They don't respect someone else opinion.
I was taught that the purpose of political debate was an exchange of ideas. I believe such & such. Ok, you don't, but, maybe I can learn from your point of view and maybe you can learn from mine. But, I have learned that here political debate isn't like that. It seems to be who can one-up each other and who can get in the most zings. And some people think that others shouldn't even be allowed to debate for whatever reason. But of course, people have learned that tactic by watching our elective officials in Washington. They can't seem to find that common ground-they don't even want to look. Again, that goes back to respect. They don't have respect for anyone with a different opinion. It really is a sad time we live in.
More divided now because of the Us Versus Them mentality .The Us side thinks they are right as well as the them side thinking their way is the only way. There is no longer of a feeling that it I Americans not Us versus them
Oh look they have more money they are evil, oh look they disagree the must be a racist or a communist.
Oh look they for traditional marriage so they hate gay. Oh look they are for gay marriage and don't respect traditional marriage believers. Oh look the president is black so if you disagree with a policy its because he is black.Oh look there is a black president if you agree with him its because you hate conservatives . There is no one talking about Americans
We talk about the rich not Americans, we talk about the poor instead of talking about Americans. Being an American was once like being in a large family you knew crazy Aunt Bessie was nuts but you better not let anyone outside the family say so because she was family.
Now instead of Americans we are gay Americas afro Americans Mexican Americans rich Americans poor American gay Americans, Instead of being Americans we are labeled something before Americans.
when we see each other as American instead of a label we can begin again to rebuild
Ok... let's try this again...
NO, we are NOT more divided. Everything you just mentioned isn't new. Everything you listed was already around years ago in this country, only 10 times worse. The black president part, of course, is new, but even with that, there were people already predicting the thoughts and words that would come out of seeing a non-old white guy in office for the first time... and it's all pretty much come true.
It seems like a lot of you don't get that this has all happened before. Only worse.
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