<font color=blue>"Do you have the feeling this country is more divided than it has ever been before in our lifetimes?"<font color=black>
Yes & no.
IMO, most Americans are not as serious about their political beliefs as we are (internet junkies on political threads & the fringe element), so no, we aren't for the most part.
I think that folks who have become internet junkies & have a serious interest in the political landscape have become more vocal & passionate about their politics. Many of these folks have become more divided in their POV's than ever, with some taking on more extreme beliefs. Some, like me, have not become more extreme, but more vocal as we have been seriously put off by those who have become unhinged from reality.
I think that those on the fringe have also become more divided, more vocal & more active with their politics than in the past. I believe their ranks are swelling.
IMO, folks who might fall into that "more divided than ever" crowd are in the tens of millions, so it is a significant minority of the country. Perhaps it is the largest percentage of Americans to become so fiercely ideologically divided. So yes, those folks surely are "more divided than ever".
However, I just traveled across the country by car - some 7500 miles in 3 weeks. I kept my eyes & ears open for signs of that serious divide I keep hearing about.
I even went out of my way to try to get folks to speak their mind at every opportunity. I openly denounced Michael Moore & his new movie while it was all over the news to dead silence (only once did someone respond meekly about how it's good to hear all sides of the issues). I used any excuse to talk about the WOT, Iraq, Bush, you name it. There just weren't any serious takers anywhere (except one dear friend in Austin & we pretty much agree on most issues). The few conversations that I did manage to get started, all flitted out quickly with no real passion or partisan POV's at all. I did overhear one dude in CA denounce Reagan, but the dude he said it to didn't want any part of it & changed the subject.
Jim Willie & I were talking politics on the cell phone during my trip. As hard as I tried at every opportunity to get other to speak up, that is the only passionate political debate I had. It seems that our disagreement has upset him so much that he has me on ignore via all forms of communication. What a shame.
Other than Jim Willie, I just didn't see it anywhere else. That included a week & a half in California & among some fairly liberal peers in the theater community in Austin TX. I think I saw two or three anti-war signs, one anti-Bush sign & a few pro-Bush signs placed in front yards.
I did notice that when in the Red states, rest stops & hotel common areas had their TV's turned to Fox News - Blue states had CNN on - except the Days Inn in LA - they had Fox News on ;-)
Now I'm not saying that what I observed is scientific evidence of my expressed beliefs. However, it sure fits in with precisely what I observe among folks here in Western PA. By far, most folks aren't internet junkies or politically on the fringe. They just aren't very passionate about their politics nor have they moved more to the right or left in the last few years.
While we may be "more divided than ever", it is still a minority, albeit a significant, vocal, active & partisan minority.
JMHO |
