A Nation Divided, Cannot Stand

The title above paraphrases Lincoln’s “A house divided” speech of 1858.  While Lincoln was addressing the issue of slavery and the national split on that topic, our nation once again finds itself divided.  We are currently divided by not only racial issues, but religious, economic, cultural, and social factors as well.  The question today is, can our nation now survive?

Colorized Photo of Abraham Lincoln

You can’t blame all of this on our newly elected president.  He just took advantage of what he astutely saw as a gridlocked congress and a nation already divided along many lines.  He saw an opening and exploited that weakness to his advantage.  He used fear as a political weapon.  He seems to have the blarney of a carnival barker.  He has used immigration (fear of job loss) and Second Amendment restrictions (fear of losing guns) to convince his core group that only with him at the helm, will they be safe.  Our great cultural divide is even greater than ever before.

During my lifetime, I have traveled by car across our nation at least a half a dozen times.  I have visited every state in America.  During my travels, I have met people from all manner of lifestyles and occupations.  My Miami neighborhood is like a small United Nations.  In this neighborhood, in addition to citizens several generations in this country, there are US citizens who are the first generation (naturalized) or second generations from France, Greece, Trinidad, Brazil, and Cuba.

National Melting Pot

While traveling, I have met waitresses who have never been beyond the borders of their own small town or community.  If you want to literally taste and experience middle America, try eating at a Cracker Barrel restaurant.  I have spoken to some of our current president's "favorite people" as in "I love the poorly-educated."  I have also had conversations with many of their counterparts on the other end of the socio-economic spectrum.  I have a friend on Facebook who is probably more centrist or Libertarian than any garden variety Republican.  He and I differ in several ways but we are still friends.

Inside a Cracker Barrel Restaurant

I would venture that all of the people mentioned above had some opinions that differed from my own, but we were still able to have civil conversations.  I have found within these conversations that, while we may have differing beliefs, there were still many points of agreement.  When given the opportunity, we could always find common ground with which to have a polite conversation.

My personal opinion is that we aren’t really that divided in our real interests and goals, we just don’t know any better because we aren’t listening anymore.  While we have access to more information than at any point in our history, we don’t have the time or inclination to listen to those whose opinions differ from our own.  We have become a nation of Republicans and Democrats, Christians and non-Christians, Left Wing or Right Wing, red state or blue state, rural residents or urban dwellers, liberals and conservatives, Fox News or MSNBC watchers, northerners and southerners, etc.

Even with our widely diverse backgrounds, I believe that many of our goals are similar; where we differ is on the path to achieving those goals.  We all want a strong economy.  We would all like it if we had access to quality healthcare.  We would like all of our children to have a good education.  We would like everyone to have a decent home in which to live.  We would like everyone who wants a job to have a job.  We would all like lower taxes and more services.  We want our highways and bridges to be safe.  Our national parks should be preserved.  We all support our nation’s military and want it properly funded.  We want clean drinking water.  We would like to live without the threat of crime.  We all believe that Americans should have access to proper nutrition.  We abhor drug addiction and its negative effects on our society.  Most of us would like it if all our wants and needs could be satisfied without going deeper into debt.  These are common objectives but we have different priorities and ways to achieve those goals.  We may have our prejudices, but with a little effort, we should be able to find some common ground upon which to stand and have a meaningful dialogue to address our problems.

We Need a National Platform Addressing the Needs of All

Ours is a representative democracy in which our elected officials are supposed to implement the will of the people.  Toward that end, our democratic process allows those officials to discuss our societal issues and to work out solutions to our problems.  Where there are differing opinions, our leaders should be astute enough to work out compromises that, at a minimum, address these problems.  They should do this even if there is not universal acceptance of the solution.  Too often today, compromise is a term verboten.  In the vernacular, it has become, “my way or the highway.”

Special interest groups now have a disproportionate influence on our democracy.  In some cases, these groups are not even representing the “will of the people,” as was envisioned by the framers of our constitution.  They represent the will of the corporation and its ability to earn a greater profit.  In other instances, influence is distorted by the wealth of an individual who has a willingness to “purchase a bigger soap-box.”  By that I mean, if you are wealthy enough to have disposable income that you are willing to use to influence key politicians, you can buy as much influence as you can afford.

Our most recent debate on firearm regulations is a prime example.  Some polls showed public agreement in the 90+-percentile range favoring better background checks, but our representatives seem unable to make any substantive changes because a single organization objects to all change.  The NRA strikes such fear in politicians; they are paralyzed to the point of inaction.

The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, upheld the rights of corporations to make political expenditures under the First Amendment.  This one decision brought about the concept of “corporate personhood.”  This was perhaps one of the most egregious errors by the Supreme Court since its Dred Scott v. Sandford decision of 1857.

While I don’t consider President Trump to be an especially bright individual, I do realize that he was able to identify a weakness in our democracy.  He was not only able to identify it, but he was also able to exploit it to become the president of the most powerful (our opinion) nation in the world.  Our democracy had come to a standstill.  Republicans and Democrats alike had buried their heads in the muck of financial greed and nothing of note was being accomplished.  Trump promised to “drain the swamp” and shake up the establishment.  To that end, for better or worse, there is no denying that things are different.  He found that people were so frustrated with their view of the economy they would put up with almost any other perceived personal fault to achieve at least something.

Saying the Dow Jones closed above 25,000 means absolutely nothing to an out of work carpenter not vested in the stock market.  His view of the economy is not the “happy days are here again” perspective of those with stock portfolios.  I recently saw a striking West Virginia schoolteacher interviewed who was working two jobs and whose family qualified for food stamps and WIC.  Those are people who don’t care if Donald Trump cheats on his wife, has affairs with models and Playboy bunnies, or even steers a few dollars to his businesses during his presidency.  Accusations of sexual impropriety now number around nineteen.

Twelve of the Nineteen Current Trump Accusers of Sexual Misconduct,
Does His Base Really Care?

They could probably care less if he does a few favors for his Russian friends.  All is forgiven if he just makes their lives a bit less miserable.  Even the evangelicals and extreme religious right would forgive the devil himself if the devil would outlaw abortions or support their other agendas.  To quote the character Verbal in Usual Suspects, aka Keyser Söze, "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Kevin Spacey
Perhaps not the best of examples for a Trump comparison

Our current president has tapped into the anger of many people fed up with our government’s stagnation.  He has exploited their fear of job loss, fear of immigrants, fear of government, fear of Muslims, and has fanned the glowing embers of their racist beliefs.  President Trump’s major achievement has been to widen the chasm between the haves and have-nots.  Large corporations and the very wealthy are doing much better under Trump.  The middle class and below have been thrown crumbs and have had their Social Security and Medicare benefits threatened.

Xenophobia

While I don’t believe Americans are as divided as it would seem on the surface until there is another crisis or until something really changes in this administration, our future remains in doubt.  I watched a recent panel interview of gun owners who all had similar leanings and found out that even they had major issues with the gun debate amongst themselves.  Two basically said that it was their right under the Second Amendment to own a semi-automatic rifle designed for war while others thought that they would be willing to give up that right by considering the rights of the students whose lives were taken.  One of the gun owners asked the question, “I understand that you (addressing another panel member) WANT to have a military-style semi-automatic rifle, I just don’t understand why you NEED such a weapon.” 

Gun Owners Who Think Parkland Shooting to be Tipping Point

Most would agree that driving a slingshot dragster on a major highway at 200 mph might be fun, but that the needs and safety of others should be considered.  Many gun owners think it would be cool to own a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon like an RPG, but perhaps understand why such ownership is outlawed.  What they don’t understand since they have been in civilian hands for years, why semi-automatic long guns should be restricted and perhaps outlawed.

Our nation is a melting pot of immigrants.  Even Native Americans migrated here across an ancient land bridge from Asia 13,000 years ago.  We are as diverse a nation as possibly exists elsewhere on this planet.  Some would even question, on religious grounds, the science that proves there was a land bridge and that there were humans that existed 13,000 years ago.

Our opinions, beliefs, cultural habits, educations, and living environments differ widely as well.  We live in crowded cities, small towns, or in sparsely populated rural areas.  As a nation with a collective purpose and common government, we are just a bit more than 240 years old.  Difficult topics like abortion will probably never find common ground or a solution acceptable to all citizens.  We are, however, a nation of laws by which we should all agree to live.

Nation of Laws

The pendulum of our political conscience has swung from our first African American president to our first Reality TV president.  If the 2018 mid-term elections provide a shift to the opposition party in the House, then this president will be held in check for the remainder of his term.  The damage he has already done will stand for the immediate future. 

I don’t foresee any major election reform on the horizon so our only recourse for change will be at the ballot box.  Russia and others will continue to attempt to influence our elections.  Individuals like President Trump will continue to exploit the weaknesses in our systems.  Wealthy individuals and large corporations will further their efforts to steer the national dialogue in directions favorable to increasing their share of the financial pie without consideration for the welfare of our nation.

Politicians will continue to do only those things they are forced to do that will get them re-elected.  Threats of voter backlash are the only things that will motivate them.  Our current crop of elected officials, with few exceptions, are more like Claude Rains’ portrayal of Senator Joe Paine than of Jimmy Stewart’s Jeff Smith, in the 1939 movie classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Claude Rains and Jimmy Stewart
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939 movie

We need to be more cautious in our acceptance of what we hear, read, and see.  Don’t re-post or share articles or information without first validating the source.  We need to be more tolerant of the views of others and we need to enter into meaningful dialogue without attacking or demeaning differing ideas.  Above all, we need to vote at every opportunity.  That vote should be a well-considered vote from an informed citizen.

For 40 years, voters in midterm elections have checked the White House by giving control of the House to the opposition party.