The Split

More people voted the the party line for president and
senate than at any time in the past century.

The split between left and right ... and between friends.

2017 - "That the leading candidate’s platform is mostly comprised of satire and ridicule reflects the kind of popular anti-establishment frustration seen elsewhere among the Western democracies. But the hidden hold of the country’s most powerful businessmen will be difficult to break. ... because of the asymmetry of time and resources, elections are dominated by the organized and the moneyed who are then chosen to govern."

~an interesting observation by legal scholar Ganesh Sitaraman.

In the U.S., our elections today reflect an extraordinary polarization in our culture, a divisive rhetoric from the extremes, and a loss of that once deemed precious to us all, a nation united.

Deliberate interference by external interests like the Russians has exaggerated the divisiveness among us. Social media has proved to be a useful tool for influencing shallow thinking. Popular opinion rises from the few moments available in busy lives to consider an issue, so memes and ridicule have become the language spoken by a significant segment of the population.  But this trend began more than forty years ago, implemented by monied interests.  That in itself is an interesting study.

Our political process has moved beyond divided to adversarial, and it now will enact policy one year and repeal it the next, further crippling our progress.

Among the citizens, objective and disciplined inquiry is rare.  Loyalty to biased sources is a common illness.  The middle-ground is gone.  Friends find themselves insulted or demeaned, unintentionally perhaps, by casual ridicule.  Having a friend who thoughtfully disagrees and is perhaps interested in your point of view is a rare treasure, increasingly rare across recent decades.  Is there a better position we might take, one based on principle and integrity rather than preferred party ideology?

A precious brother laughed the other day at the long list of things we talk about, often without agreement.  It's okay because we work at it, not competitively but in an effort to understand.  I so treasure his good heart.  The issues don't push us apart.