What has happened to America?
These days it seems like the U.S. is falling apart, especially since last November. Violence is more and more common, intolerance and racism is de rigeur, the political system is fundamentally dysfunctional, and it seems like everyone with an opinion – regardless of their place in the political spectrum – takes their ideas as dogma and lives shut in to a tiny little echo chamber where all they see and hear enforces their beliefs. And whenever someone else challenges them, their immediate, visceral reaction is to shut down opposition instead of opening up discussion. Today’s America is fueled by anger.
How did we get here? People like simple answers to tough questions, but the fact is there are no simple answers here. The country’s plight is not simply due to Donald Trump, nor is it due to a liberal conspiracy against freedom, or to whatever the “deep state” is. It may be comforting to take an enemy, build them up into a straw man, and pillory them for destroying America, but that is not the case, nor is it constructive. Curing the country of its ills is not that easy, despite the moral comfort this thought process brings.
It seems to me that at least a handful of factors are at play in this crisis:
· Political and social polarization: The two major political parties in the U.S. have drifted steadily towards the edges of the political spectrum. As the gap between party platforms grows, bipartisan politics fades into oblivion. Such a divisive system leaves voters with no choice but to pick a side, even if many Americans fall somewhere in the political center. And, as divisive politics spreads to the rest of society, the country as a whole begins to split in two.
· “Big money” and oligarchy: More and more, politicians of every stripe are under the sway of money. Corruption is rampant in the United States, which is now teetering on the verge of outright oligarchy. A system where money equals power has led to both major political parties serving a select few special interests to the detriment of the average voter, which only serves to widen the fracture in American politics and society.
· Elitism: The Democratic Party has in recent years fallen prey to a holier-than-thou attitude that rejects anyone outside the fold as either a simpleton or intolerant when in fact the vast majority of non-Democrats are neither. This attitude makes people angry, it prevents Democrats and liberals from seeing good ideas that originate elsewhere, and is a major contributor to the fractured nation that exists today.
· Populism: Parallel to the problem of elitism, the Republican Party has turned to a dangerous populism to appeal to its base. Populism is dangerous for many reasons, chiefly the tendency for political “solutions” to prejudice “feel-good” answers instead of actual policy. This can lead to an extreme radicalization of a voting bloc, putting many marginalized groups at risk and endangering the safety of the country as a whole.
· Liberal and conservative arrogance and self-righteousness: Both major political activity groups, the liberals and the conservatives, are deeply convinced that their fallacious orthodoxy, fed by elitist and populist rhetoric respectively, is correct and refuse to see any other good answers elsewhere. No one is willing to talk to the other side or even see them as people capable of reasoned thought, and it is pulling the country apart at the seams.
· Self-fulfilling news cycles: The mainstream media (which, contrary to popular belief, does include Fox News – the largest, most powerful, and most mainstream news network in the country) is tasked with upholding the political leanings of their base, be they liberal or conservative. The same story will be put through 5 different news stations and come out with 5 completely different takeaways. We see so many talking heads on 24-hour news programming regurgitating the same spin that it is no wonder that people buckle down on their side’s interpretation when different readings of a situation are so diametrically opposed. The news of today serves no purpose but to reinforce previously-held beliefs and to demonize opposing interpretations.
· Anti-intellectualism: The leaders of this country seem determined to replace rigorous exploration of the truth with “alternative facts” and label anyone who dares challenge them as “fake news.” Anyone who seeks to block discussion to protect their views is perpetuating this anti-intellectualism. The most effective way to combat this is not by trying to shut down these propagandists, which only cements their deification amongst those who believe them, but by engaging them in debate and refuting them with the truth. It is important to remember that if the truth is given a chance to be presented, the truth will always win.
· Racism, sexism, religious and myriad other forms of discrimination: In the more than 200 years of this country’s existence, some of the most powerful indicators of opportunity have been the color of one’s skin, one’s gender and where they worship. Unfortunately, this has not changed at all in the new century. I won’t pretend to know how to stop racism and discrimination, but I am convinced that many of the other topics above are implicated in contemporary American discrimination. For example, populism and polarization have given popular credence to discriminatory thought and action. Combating many of these other factors, coupled with a dedicated effort to directly challenge discrimination, seems to be the best plan of action.
All of these factors combine to result in a country ruled by dual orthodoxies. The country is pulling apart at the seams. The question that we need to ask is, “who is profiting from this strife?” And if we look at those in charge of these two orthodoxies, namely the Democratic and Republic Parties who dominate American politics, we will find the answer.
The Republican-Democratic dialectic is toxic. In order to fix America, we need to change this paradigm. There are far more viewpoints in this country than those that are represented in politics. Despite the two dominant parties consistently combining for 90% or more of the vote in every election in this country, only a small minority of Americans actually adhere to the party line. People’s beliefs are too varied to be properly expressed in a 2-answer multiple-choice question. But, with no viable third option, party leaders know their most dangerous opposition is from somewhere else in the giant coalition within their party. So, the “party line” shifts towards the radical end of Blue, or the reactionary end of Red, to prevent rebellion from “the base.” In the end, this means that two minority opinions are far over-represented in this country’s politics. Worst of all, these opinions are often extremely controversial, and they completely alienate the rest of the political spectrum. If only this were not the case – without two behemoths keeping these minority opinions afloat, they would be relegated to the far corners of politics, where they belong. If, for example, there was a strong center-right party in addition to the far-right Republican Party of today, the far-right party would rapidly fade into an irrelevant minor party.
It should come as no surprise that a country as large, diverse and powerful as the United States would have some incredibly challenging, complicated and deep-set issues to deal with. Nevertheless, all is not lost. It is possible to bring this chaos to an end. The hegemonic power of party allegiance must be broken, and discussion of ideas must instead take center stage instead of mere mudslinging, if this mess will ever be cleaned up.