America is Not as Divided as We Are Being Told

The world is not falling apart. We are not as divided in America as we are being told. Our democracy is not in danger. The prevailing, loud narratives say otherwise but facts tell us a different story, a much more optimistic one. I agree with former President Obama when he says that if you could ever choose a point in history in which to be living, today would be that day.

The world falling apart? The worldwide trends of the last few decades are clear. The global child mortality rate is down significantly in the last thirty years. The decline in extreme poverty is staggering, from one-third of the population to now one-tenth of the population. More than 90% of children now attend primary school, an incredible improvement. Women are being elected globally in dramatic numbers from just thirty years ago. Most parts of the world are living longer due to better healthcare and sanitation. IQ scores are rising. Combat deaths are down from historical standards and the nuclear weapon count is down 85% from its peak. The major powers of the world have not warred with each other in eighty years. Two centuries ago, virtually no one lived in a democracy; now two-thirds of the world live in one. I could go on.

Divided? I have trouble seeing it on a daily basis. Only the national media and national politicians constantly bring up how divided we are. Both groups have strong financial incentives to espouse such rhetoric. Marketing techniques like confirmation bias build and sustain a base of followers which are then monetized. Media needs clicks and eyeballs to build advertising revenue, and divisive rhetoric unfortunately draws viewers. Federal legislators on both sides refuse to compromise on solvable issues so that they can use the topic to further divide us by saying the other side is un-American or other such nonsense. Of course, this is followed up by a request for a campaign contribution. Books “written” by both groups add to the rhetoric and their income. All this looks obvious to me. Follow the money.

Our democracy is strong. We have been through much worse. The Civil War alone dwarfs such modern sentiment. Are we anywhere near as divided that we are willing to have two percent of our population, nearly seven million people today, killed as we did in our Civil War just 80 years after the nation’s founding? Of course not. Only fringe theorists spout such nonsense. Even the Sixties were more turbulent than today.

More people voted in the 2020 election than ever before. Despite claims to the contrary, most informed people agree it was the most secure election ever. Most of the politicians and media who claim otherwise are attempting to secure votes and audience. In America, only concentration of power in the presidency has ever proved dangerous. The Trail of Tears is but one example. If we guard against such concentration of power, our country will prosper.

I do not watch much TV news these days. I just could not take the half-truths and purposeful deception anymore. However, I read the articles from the political media on both sides of the aisle. The collaboration between the political media and their aligned parties is obvious. Repeatedly, I hear the same simplistic phrasing originating from these sources being used in normal conversation amongst friends. Emails from politicians are the same story. I receive several of these daily, again from both sides of the aisle, just to see what they say, and the simplistic, repetitive nonsense contained in these emails is laughable but apparently effective.

It has been this way since our nation’s founding. Democracies bring out such tactics, but the world is getting much more stable, the quality of life is astonishing compared to just a few decades ago, and our country is still a beacon for most around the world.

The people in America have far more in common than some would have you believe. Most of our people believe in self-determination through the vote, a regulated and fair capitalist system, and the freedom that individual Americans enjoy. Listen to the political news if you must but be skeptical of what you are hearing from the national political media and national politicians. They are giving you what Jack Nicholson once said in a movie, “some version of the truth,” but they are rarely giving you the whole truth. If they gave you the whole truth, their money would dry up.