I'm not up on historic periods of the nation but I wonder if the country has been this divided since the Civil War? There appears to be little common ground on topics of any kind. Conservative vs Liberal, Science vs Religion, weather change vs doubters, Trayvon vs Zimmerman. I'm not sure if there are any important topics that find any measure of common agreement anymore. (no doubt someone will challenge this belief) It seems to be a dangerous situation of stalemate. The government, as a transmission of service and leadership, is stuck in neutral with constant bickering over direction. There seems to be an anti-intellectual sentiment in a large faction of people. I've been told my education was a waste of time, that its controled by agendas, that people don't need no damn learnin'...WTF against educating yourself??? Is this just my rural lower midwest lack of vision? Are we all really gettin along OK? Is there any hope for a country that can unite itself in any useful way? Is this the "going to hell in a hand basket express"? Toss out your nuggets of hope folks. I'm ready to head over the rainbow if possible.
[ranting] Ideally, this nation is divided 5.2 milllion different ways. Unfortunately that idea is just that, an idea. We're not divided enough, in my opinion and we're divided by the wrong people with the wrong goals. It never resolved itself in my mind, how we can have polls on internet forums that deliver exact numbers, but for affairs of state in our "democracy", *rollseyes* we must have elected officials to vote and in order to vote those elected officials we have to submit our vote to a college of voters whom, then interpret OUR vote to vote in the guys who vote on stuff. I'm not saying the system never works... I'm just saying the whole set-up begs suspicion. These issues that divide us so well(as mentioned by the OP), I just don't think they're an accurate representation of our opinion, as a nation. -BlkBks
I think the powers that be have convinced us that we're more divided than we really are. A friend of mine and I used to debate politics a lot. I was supposed to be this big liberal and he was conservative so we would argue constantly for fun. After a while we noticed we were saying the same things in different terms. I think that was an eye opener for both of us because we both stopped defining our politics and now when we talk politics we talk more about government corruption and taking the political power out of the hands of politicians. At the end of the day what does it matter if your neighbor doesn't align politically with you? We all want the same basic things; a nice place to live and the freedom to pursue our own happiness.
We'll never know for sure, will we? I can't trust the slight democratic "representation" that occurs to be accurate and fair anymore. It's not a depiction of our opinion and that invalidates the system, in my eyes. Our opinions are just pissing in the wind. Not to mention plenty of them are systematically given to us like loaded weapons from media, just enough to tell us who to vote for. So even if we do happen to disagree, the media informs us we shouldn't. I can make a prediction right now. Obama will be reelected. I'm not saying he shouldn't; I'm not saying I wouldn't or would vote for him. I'm just saying that the media has portrayed him as the winner already. All we have to do is cast our votes, and the few disagreements that may occur get lost in the system. -BlkBks
(double posting ftw and post 100) One thing more... Anytime acts of government in a democracy "happen to" the majority instead of being "caused by" the majority, then the term democracy should have nothing to do with the title of that government. How many people are happy with the government right now? Can I see a show of hands? Not very many I'll bet. That is the condemnation of a democracy in action. This forum, with it's polls, is a more accurate representation. So I say take a look at it. It's sample size of 229 thousand members is more representative of American opinion(even with the hip forums obvious and expected leftist trend) than the few assholes we've elected. So in answer to your question about Divided America, don't expect to find the truth in the news or presented during meetings of legislature, there are too many opinions anyway. This forum is as close as we'll ever get with our current system. [/ranting] -BlkBks
Yes this country certainly seems to be divided right and left with no middle ground between the two. Each side passionate about their concerns, one becoming fiercely anti intellectual, seeming to wish to see our countries regression back in time. One side wishing to embrace the future and pushing to change the direction away from the past. This is a very fundamental problem that the powers that be are exploiting for all its worth, effectively throwing fuel to make the divide even deeper. I am not really sure if any of this can ever be fixed as these beliefs are pretty ingrained on both sides, with both sides firmly convinced the other is wrong.
It's the Hegelian dialectic at work. Learn about it. The people in control need people taking sides and divided in order to keep them from seeing the bigger picture. This is done primarily through the media, as well as academia. Keep the people fighting amongst themselves, blind to their common enemy. This is how the masses are controlled and left taking sides which are given to them to follow.
you need to keep in mind that 228 thousand of those members joined only to make a single post about having sex with their sister. the question's already been answered. they tell us we're divided to keep us distracted.
I think it's a false dichotomy. I disagree with certain posters, in that I don't think it's a necessarily a deliberate difference created by the media, but the the media's bias is towards sensationalism. I think if you were watching cable news right now, you'd think there was this big divide, but I think friction is drama, and rational debate isn't, and that's what you're seeing. I think most people know the difference, and I think when you see those polls that say like 11% approval of congress, most people aren't weighing in on their individual politicians votes, but the partition bickering. I suspect most people aren't liberal or conservative but apathetic. The remaining fraction votes not on logic, but on bell weather issues, like the economy. Because ultimately most people are struggling to get by.
Interesting how this great divide happened just as the first black president was elected. Total coincidence I'm sure.
naw dawg. I think the country was much more divided during the Bush adminstration. That was back when it seemed like the majority of people believed in one politician or another and aligned themselves with one political party or the other. Now I think the majority of people just think the politicians running our country are idiots. Black, white, brown, woman, male....they're all fucking shit up. So at least we can all agree on that.
That doesn't seem to be the consensus though, I hear a lot more people saying the country is divided more now than, than then.
It is. I may have a small edge on perspective here, being as I remember how politics was conducted from the 40s to the present. There were political statesmen that made decent speeches with differing opinions but with respect from left and right,however there was ,in the end,compromise over issues that have become thoroughly polarized now. The right has always had approximately the same issues as now, as has the left with the issues they care about. For one thing ,there were no rabid right or left wingers in/on the media as there are now. News was news and there was not the constant sensationalism that passes for news nowadays. "They" seem to have discovered much about control of the populace by being way over the top with outrageous statements that would not have been tolerated back in the days of the 50s -60s and before. Many of us accept that this is reasonable conduct and it shows in other areas also. Consider the citizens that are fans of the likes of Maury,Jerry Springer and other totally useless bullshit that are watched now. Started with the likes of Joe Pyne and (?) Downey back years ago and now it's pretty much standard fare. They know we just love the dirt and scandal. Keeps us occupied and ignorant. Serves "them" well. The corporate world learned a valuable lesson (to them)in 1973 when the oil companies realized that "the end of oil"story worked very well for them to not only inconvenience the whole nation by raising the price of oil when they chose and how much they chose--,but that we would never do a damn thing to stop them. It has not changed. The idea that americans can be led by their noses into believing just about anything,spread throughout the corporate world. Thus houses that were 15-20 thousand 35 years ago are now 2 or 3 hundred thousand. Top of the line autos were 2 to 5 thousand and now 10 to 50 thousand and up. Why? Because they know they can with impunity. We've just about let them ruin this country by dividing us ,obfuscating basic truths, creating a super rich class ,a shrinking middle class, a growing poor class and endless war. Some critical thinking and direct action to reclaim our educational system,our government and country is overdue. Dangerous,but necessary.
