23 August 2011 - political divisiveness

The United States has seen vicious political divisiveness before. One time was around the War of 1812, which like Dubya’s invasion of Iraq was begun with some reason, some hubris, and the support of some of the nation. The episode ended with modest military successes at the end of the war that left Americans feeling far too smug. Another divide was the Generation Gap of the Vietnam War era. That seemed to go away with Watergate and Nixon’s resignation, which created a bizarre temporary consensus that Republicans were all scum. From this history I foresee a simple solution to our current political deadlock: Overgeneralization. As our views approach black and white, our world will simplify until we misunderstand all our problems away.