Has The United States Become The Divided States
The United States is increasingly divided. Our morals and our character are no longer united. We as a people no longer agree on what's right or wrong.
Our political views are based on our morals, our beliefs of right and wrong. We don't no longer separate our laws from what we believe is right.
In 2016 and In 2020, both political wings were asked by the main party of their wing to vote for the lesser of two evils. To select a person as president who morally was against every thing we stand for and was a threat to our country because the other candidate was a bigger threat to our country.
The youth and the old on each political wing have been pointing the finger at each other since 2016. Both generations view the other as entitled and are fighting for control of our political future.
This has pushed both wings to the brink of completely imploding but even worse, it has pushed the country to the brink of a civil war. How far are we divided as a people, I hope to shed some light on that answer.
The United states is about 60% (196 Million) democratic to 40% (132 Million) Republican but at the same time 53% (173 Million) conservative/regressive to 47% (155 million) liberal/progressive. Of that a combined 35% (114 million) say they're center left or center right.
Morals determine a person's beliefs on right and wrong. These beliefs come from how people are raised, where they are raised, their education, and from life experiences. These morals help shape a person's ideologies, political beliefs, and character. It's all relative as they're all interwoven like the threads on a sweater vest.
In fact political writer Susan Mulligan wrote, "Nearly half the country (48%) thinks the Republican Party has been taken over by racists, a view held by 80% of Democrats. And the Democratic Party? Nationally, 44% think it's been taken over by socialists – and 82% of Republicans share that opinion, according to the extensive study, 'Fractured Nation: Widening Partisan Polarization and Key Issues in 2020 Presidential Elections.' "
The US population is divided into two groups of ideologies, even independents lean a little left or right, there are no true independents. Of that, about 2/3 of the US population have completely opposite views on right and wrong. Thus complete opposite views of issues, policies and ethics.
Thomas Sutton, director of the Community Research Institute at Baldwin Wallace University said, "The electorate tends to nominate candidates who reflect those core ideologies. That has the effect of pushing the parties further apart".
When people are voting by selecting candidates who have the same beliefs on right and wrong, of course there's gonna be a divide because they're trying to pass and remove policies that they view as morally wrong and unbecoming of America.
Before I get into more substance of policy divide, there are people who think morals and policy are separated. Trump passed a lot of policies that left had issues with. The policy allowed for inhumane treatment of humans among other things. The left had moral issues with Trumps character and what he viewed as ethical
The right had no problems with this because they believed the solutions via the policies were needed in addressing the problems and the only way to address the problems. The right praised Trump's character for how he handled things while had grave concerns for the left's disapproval of the President's character.
There were people telling Americans on both wings to ignore policy and vote on morals, ethics, and character. Mainly the 114 million moderates that were supporting their candidates. Failing to realize that they're all connected and that people wanted a candidate who policies represent what they believe is right and wrong. That's what ethics are, the moral belief in right and wrong. Policy is how we enforce those ethics.
That part of correcting a problem by using voting, is to select a person who's policy addresses the problems. The problem was more than Donald Trump or Joe Biden, which is what moderates failed to understand. Not being the other candidate was not enough for the rest of American voters.
There are those who say, well I'm a constitutionalist. Well the constitution is out dated. The founding fathers wanted it revised every twenty years to keep it up with the times. We failed to do so and as such, we have come to this great divide. One can no longer purely do what's best for the country solely off the constitution until it receives the much needed revision our founding fathers knew it would need.
Evan McDonald of Cleveland.com in August wrote, "Speakers at both conventions presented wildly different outlooks of the political landscape, but they offered the same core message. They argued that the opposing party represents an existential threat to the way of life in the United States of America, and a vote against that threat is the only way to stop it."
A party is nothing more than people with common morals and beliefs who come together to achieve the same goal. So the speakers for both bodies of people said in a sense, that a large portion of this nation were a threat to this nation because of their moral opposition to policies that would bring about solutions to our problems.
According to John C. Green, the director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron, “It goes beyond competition for power, and it goes beyond positions on public policy. It’s a really visceral dislike for one another. There’s always been some of that, but it’s become much more common.”
Dislike is an understatement, it's almost pure hatred at this point of those on the other political spectrum, of those in the other party. Dislike is more reserved for the moderates of the party who do more to hinder the passing of policies then support them, moderates are viewed as morally flawed. Dislike is also used for the older or younger generations of the party for the same reasons.
David Barker, the director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University said that the two wings are segregated between city and country regions.
He also said, “Every single thing about our lives is divided along partisan lines. We just do not encounter people from the opposite side of the aisle very often. And if you don’t encounter them, you’re not likely to be exposed to any information that could change or moderate your position.”
McDonald wrote about a 2020 Brown University Study, "the two major parties are have become more closely aligned with certain races, religions and political ideologies than they were in the past, the study says."
McDonald wasn't finished, saying "More nefariously, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified at least 1,000 hate groups in the U.S. in 2018, many of which used race and anti-immigrant sentiments to sow division. And conspiracy theory groups like QAnon, which baselessly claims that a powerful cabal of pedophiles and cannibals are trying to take down Trump, have spread misinformation and even penetrated conservative politics."
In 2018 according to the Pew Research Center, Cities were 62% Democrat to 31% Republican, while in rural areas it flips to 54% Republican to 38% Democrat.
From late 2007 to January 2012 I lived in both Ontario and Wayne counties in New York. Let me tell you, nice people but as soon as they find out you're liberal, you're treated like an outsider and some will even treat you like a third world citizen. Over the last four years being conservative in Rochester, New York, one is almost treated the same way.
In October 2020, a PEW study said that 65% of Republicans preferred to live in large homes that were spaced out, while 61% of Democrats preferred smaller homes that were bunched together.
PEW also said that 67% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans only associated with and stayed in areas populated by their party.
In December 2019 Pew Research Center wrote, "Yet it remains the case that the differences between the two parties are starker than those within the two parties. Across 30 political values – encompassing attitudes about guns, race, immigration, foreign policy and other realms – the average partisan gap is 39 percentage points."
That's a big number. Only about two of every 5 are going to support a policy that the other side has majority support for. Those two people are normally the moderates or centrists of the bunch.
Pew wrote that there's a "57 point difference" on gun control laws, with Support for gun control being 81% of Democrats compared to 31% of Republicans.
On policies addressing civil rights and racial equalities like tackling white privilege, Pew says it's a "49%-7%" difference; with the 49% going to Democrats.However that's only when it comes to minorities.
Susan Mulligan wrote, "More than two-thirds (69%) of Republicans believe discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks, compared to 21% of Democrats who feel that way, according to PRRI. For Republicans who cite Fox News as their primary news source, the number rises to 77%"
Pew goes on to say externally, in each party there is a 60-40 split on average between older and younger members on policies and about a 25% racial split. There's also a smaller gender split.
According to Pew, 66% of Democrats support the government's efforts and is doing a good job, while 68% of Republicans think the government is wasting money on social programs and should eliminate them all together.
Pew also said that while the democratic majority across the income gap supports government assistance programs, just under 60% of Republicans making under $50k and little over a third of Republicans making over $50k support government assistance.
73% of Americans think the US is or is becoming corporatism. That's where corporations have the power and write the laws. 83% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans agree to this. While 4% of Americans think corporations don't have enough say.
In a September 2019, Iman Ghosh wrote that 73% of Democrats and 43% of Republicans believe corporations make too much profit, while those who disagree are pushing for deregulation and elimination of employee protections.
Of sexism, 83% of women on the left say it hinders them compared to only 18% in the right. The number drops for men on both wings but 69% of left wing males still agree.
53% of Republicans feel men are being punished for being men, in comparison to 23% of Democrats. 65% of right wingers and 26% of left wingers believe the country is becoming feminist.
According to PRRI 63% of Republicans to only 20% of Democrats feel that immigration is a problem and that Immigrants are making America worse off.
PRRI study also showed 55% of Republicans believe it's a requirement one believe in GOD, only 35% of Democrats share the belief.
A report by Bo MacInnis and Jon A. Krosnick for RFF.org wrote 94% of Democrats believe in global warming compared to 67% of Republicans. While Democrats stayed consistent across the board, the report showed only 56% of Republicans believe that climate change will continue and 69% blame man for being the main cause.
98% percent if Democrats believe climate change is a threat to the US, while only 54% of Republicans agree. Only 40% of Republicans think that the past hundred years of high temperatures have been bad, compared to 88% of Democrats.
76% of Democrats feel they're in danger from climate change compared to only 26% of Republicans according to the RFF study.
Iman Ghosh wrote in 2019 according to Pew Research that 77% of Democrats believed we need stricter climate change laws, only 36% of Republicans agree.
According to PEW, 83% of Democrats said the US should be working on world peace via democracy, only 33% of Republicans agreed. While 67% of Republicans said the US should work on world peace via military force.
According to a study by the New York Times, 77% of Democrats were worried about the coronavirus in March, compared to 48% of Republicans.
The times also reported in July 55% of Republicans thought it was safe to open theaters, compared to 10% of Democrats. 73% of Republicans thought it was safe to dine in compared to 21% of Democrats. 51% of the GOP thought it was safe to fly, compared to 15% of Democrats. Republicans are also against mask mandates and lockdowns by majority.
According to Pew 62% of Republicans believe Abortion should be illegal, in contrast to 82% of Democrats who are in favor.
When right and wrong come into play, it's hard to find compromise on anything. That's the problem with morality. The US no longer shares the same morals or the same character. It truly doesn't share the same values any longer.
Majority of our country is split so far on every subject. The United States is a nation of frenemies.
When our country agrees that something is a problem, we cannot agree on a solution, and 9 times out of 10, it's because either we're too greedy to be willing pay to fix our issues or lazy to put in the work to solve them. The United States is slowly but surely becoming a liability to the rest of the world. It's only a matter of time before the sanctions start coming.
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