DU Poll: America, anymore, is really two countries in terms of what people want/think?

[RKP5637]

Is America, anymore, really two countries in terms of what people want/think and almost evenly divided?

Just a simple question. I think it is, especially after having watched all of the separatism presented so far at the GOP convention.

I'm just curious what DU thinks. I never used to think this, but anymore the differences seem to be almost irreconcilable there is sooo much division.

What does DU think? Is America, anymore, really two countries in terms of what people want/think and almost evenly divided?

8 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	3 (38%)
	No
	0 (0%)
	Absolutely Yes
	4 (50%)
	Absolutely No
	1 (13%)
	Maybe
	0 (0%)
	Pass me a drink!
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[tama]

1. Multitude of communities

The two parties don't really represent America.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Absolutely. But, out of curiosity,

where are you from?

Your use of "anymore" in an affirmative sense interests me. I've heard that usage before, but in my particular dialect of English, the word is used only in a negative context, e.g. "Don't do that any more." And, in writing that, I realized that my dialect treats it as two words.

[Scuba]

4. That extra space character taking up a lot of bandwidth? Geeez you're whiny this morning.

[RKP5637]

5. Interesting observation. New England, originally. Here's a summary along what you were

saying.

http://alt-usage-english.org/anymore.html

Opinion concerning "anymore" vs "any more" divides roughly into three camps:

There is no such word as "anymore". It is simply a misspelling. "Anymore" and "any more" are two ways of spelling the same thing, and the two have the same meaning. There is a useful difference in meaning between the two.

About the first two camps, little more needs to be said. Either statement stands on its own and needs no elaboration.

The difference in meaning considered useful by the third camp is that "anymore" is an adverb meaning "nowadays" or "any longer", while "any more" can be either adverb plus adjective, as in "I don't want any more pie", or adjective plus noun, as in "I don't want any more."

The difference between the two meanings is illustrated in the sentence: "I don't buy books anymore because I don't need any more books."

The distinction of "any more" and "anymore" seems to be recognized by many, but not all, US users and by dictionaries published in the US. At least one British dictionary (NSOED/93) and some British users recognize "anymore" as an alternative spelling of "any more", but do not recognize a difference in meaning.

The adverb "anymore" is standard American English when it is used in a negative sense, as in "I don't do that anymore." It is a regional or dialectal usage, mostly restricted to spoken English, when it is used in a positive sense, meaning "nowadays", as in "Anymore I do that" or "I do that anymore."

[RKP5637]

16. Interesting, you got me looking into this more ... It's apparently a Philadelphia dialect

and my early schooling was in the Philadelphia area.

That, was quite a catch!

Here's a bit more on it ...

Anymore is used as a positive, e.g. "Jimmy's hoagies taste different anymore."[21]

The Philadelphia dialect is the dialect of English spoken in Philadelphia; and extending into Philadelphia's suburbs in the Delaware Valley and southern New Jersey. It is one of the best-studied dialects of American English since Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania is the home institution of William Labov, one of the most productive American sociolinguists. The Philadelphia dialect shares some unusual features with the New York dialect and to a lesser extent other regions of the US, although it is a distinct dialect region. The Philadelphia dialect is, however, in most respects similar to the dialects of Reading, Pennsylvania, Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore, together with which it constitutes what Labov describes as the "Mid-Atlantic Dialect".[1]

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_dialect

[Jackpine Radical]

18. I've always been fascinated by linguistics & philology.

Besides English, I have a vague reading knowledge of German, the Scandinavian languages (including a smattering of Old Norse and some ability to read Runic), and French, with some rudiments of Latin & Spanish.

Among the Germanic languages in particular, it's fascinating to track the mutations, like Eng. "ship," Dan. "Skib" (echoing words like "skipper&quot , Ger. Schiff. So Eng. shares the beginning "sch" sound with Ger. & the terminal p/b sound with Danish. Then there are the strange intrusions--the word for "dog" in most Romance languages is derived from canis (can- in It., chien in French, etc. But Span. is perro. Where did that come from?

"Dog" is also interesting in the Germanic languages. Ger./Scand./Dutch Hund is cognate with Eng. "hound," so the generic name for dog came to refer to a type or class of dog in English, while "dog" (from Dogge," which is approximately synonymous with "mastiff&quot came to signify the entire species in Englisch.

[Scuba]

3. Yes, but the dividing line is not where most think (or posit) it is.

When surveyed about issues, Americans are far left of where the media paints them to be.

[RKP5637]

12. I find that often quite true in talking to people. Notice post #6. I also think there

is definitely a contrived and manipulated division going on ... with an end game being played that well might be far different than who is the next president.

[porphyrian]

6. I said maybe, but here's why...

The two basically irreconcilable views do exist, but I don't believe they are the only two; they are the only two being offered to us. Someone is trying to engineer a fight, and it makes me suspicious. There is no denying that we are being offered two Americas that cannot easily coexist, however.

[RKP5637]

7. It does feel suspicious. I think a lot of it has to do with the MSM filter, Citizens

United, the corporate stranglehold on this country and the vast amounts of $$$ flowing for just their interests and priorities. And it's in their best interest to keep the country divided and confused on issues. It's far easier to manipulate a divided and confused group IMO.

[porphyrian]

10. I wonder if recent domestic terrorism is related.

Maybe we don't have to worry about some Mayan-predicted apocalypse in 2012, we have to worry about whoever is behind creating this dangerous false binary and how effective their efforts end up being.

[RKP5637]

11. That, is a very good question, but for sure, it feels as if a contrived effort continues in

trying to keep the nation divided.

[Scuba]

15. I think you pose a most interesting theory, and it's worthy of further discussion. Recommend an OP.

[porphyrian]

21. Good idea.

It is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021235709.

[HopeHoops]

8. It's not only divided, but in an integrated way. It's not so closely tied to geography anymore.

Yeah, sure, there's definitely a red/blue leaning in places, but the reasons aren't as tied to the area as they were in the lead-up to the Civil War. If we had another "civil" war, as some have suggested, it would be basic mayhem with everyone shooting at everyone else until we'd effectively killed all of ourselves. I know I've joked about "giving Texas back to Mexico", but think about how many DU members are from Texas, or Arizona for that matter. The Mason-Dixon line is still there, but it's useless in its original context. I've often wondered how things would be different if that dividing line had become a border between two countries.

[RKP5637]

13. I wonder sometimes if the perceived differences (if being created) will cause people

unconsciously (or even consciously) to migrate over time to different parts of the country progressively making red redder and blue bluer, something like that ...

I agree, often people on DU posting from red red areas are sometimes more blue than the blue blue geographical areas.

Yeah, it would be absolute mayhem.

[HopeHoops]

17. Technically, PA is blue, but not my voting district. It's solid red.

[RKP5637]

19. Was it always red or is that a shift that has occurred? n/t

[HopeHoops]

20. Always red. Camp Hill is so red you can see it from Mars. Our community is a little more mixed.

We're all part of the same voting district and our state Senator does an excellent job of balancing the needs. Our state rep, not so much, well, okay, he sucks moose cock. The gerrymandering they tried to push through would have made things far worse than they are, especially at the national level, but the SC blocked it. There hasn't been a lot of shifting in general, but Corbett and his flying monkeys are doing their best to change it back to a red state with their Voter ID bullshit. I hope the PASC throws that out in time. With Orie under indictment, the court's split 3-3, but they don't always rule on party lines. We should know in about 2-3 weeks.

[Egalitarian Thug]

9. We have always been two* people, I think the difference at this time is something we've gone through

before, we no longer strive to realize our ideals. In fact, I would go so far as to say that we, as a people, no longer have any ideals toward which to strive.

This sets the stage for the majority to simply say "no" without any argument to back their positions, and without offering any alternatives. We progress when enough people come to the conclusion that "that's a good idea", in this environment of no ideas/ideals how can consensus occur?


*really two major camps and then all the outsiders.

[RKP5637]

14. This, is definitly a root cause of many of the conflicts. n/t