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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsResearchers asked people worldwide about divisiveness. Guess where U.S. ranked
WASHINGTON Perhaps the most unrealistic of President Bidens campaign promises was his repeated suggestion that he could bridge the deep gulfs that divide American society.
As the anniversary of his election approaches, the U.S. is more split than ever. Thats mostly not Bidens fault the social trends that have pushed Americans apart for the last 20 years go far deeper than any president can reach. But it does clearly limit his effectiveness, as Biden has found with the roughly 1 in 4 Republicans who adamantly refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
The same social trends have affected other wealthy nations, but the U.S. stands out for the degree of divisiveness that afflicts it. When the nonpartisan Pew Research Center recently surveyed people in 17 countries in Europe, Asia and North America, Americans were the most likely to say their society was split along partisan, racial and ethnic lines. The U.S. also reported more religious division than almost any other country surveyed.
The U.S. was also one of five countries in which more than half the public said their fellow citizens cant agree on basic facts.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2021-10-15/us-most-divided-nation-in-worldwide-survey-essential-politics
empedocles
(15,751 posts)'' . . . Pews numbers bear that out: In 2012, fewer than half of Americans said they thought very strong conflicts existed between Democrats and Republicans. By 2020, that share had soared past 70%. . . . ''
[The article cites long term trends, however, there may be a trump 'hockey stick' upturn on a graph correlating extreme differences with a traitorstrump effect].
JHB
(37,159 posts)The main "Trump hockey stick upturn" would be among the people who had, for a very long time, ignored that. They'd taken Rush, Newt, etc. as individual over-the-top cases instead of the instigators whose repetition had a mass effect.
Trump completely stripped what was by 2016 a very worn, shoddy coat of varnish that had previously provided an excuse for overlooking the rot.
JustAnotherGen
(31,818 posts)I disagree. He has been trying - but there are people in a cult who don't view their 'political opposition' as Human Beings. We are 'its'.
Now - I 've known this since at least 2013. Biden can't move me on this issue.
I will NEVER rub shoulders with those people. I detest any 'it' (see both sides can do it) who thinks 9/11 was worse than 1/6. And they think that, because they are unAmerican racist Republicans.
Not rubbing shoulders - and this shit doesn't end with me until they are brought to heel.
hedda_foil
(16,373 posts)Moostache
(9,895 posts)There is no secret to why these polls find that about Americans. You need go no further than Fox "News", Newsmaxx and OANN to find the exact cause and contributor to this perceive divide.
The willingness of craven, power-mad wannabe demagogues to support demonstrable lies in service of their personal ambition or need for control is obvious to all who objectively review it. As is the falseness of the "news" on those particular propaganda networks.
The willingness to ACT on this and shut it down? Well, I'm still waiting to see that happen...
Zorro
(15,740 posts)It's a recent two part episode on The American Experience series.
There's a strong correlation between Hearst using his widespread media empire to manipulate popular opinion and his latter-day incarnation Rupert Murdoch doing the same thing. Hearst craved political power without holding political office, just as Murdoch does today.