I wonder if it doesn't have a lot to do with our present circumstances. We are closely divided at a time for choosing. Will we continue our trajectory towards a European-style state? Or will we hold to a more American understanding of government? With such a big question up in the air folks are pretty cranky.
Can we look back at history and find a similar situation, in which a closely divided country led to frayed nerves and incivility? I think so. The episode that leaps to mind is George Sumner beating a Senate(?) colleague with his cane. Tempers ran high in those years before the Civil War because our future course lay in the balance.
I wonder if there wasn't a lull, beginning with FDR, because "liberalism" had won and Republicans were just tagging along, trying to slow things maybe, but not really fighting for another ideal. The Second World War brought people together as did the Cold War, at least for a generation. And early TV news was on the bandwagon too, supporting the liberal version of events.
Now, on the other hand, the media's credibility is terribly damaged and there is a constant fight over what is a truthful interpretation of events. The liberal vision for America is running into a wall (the reality of finite resources the government can use without cratering the economy.) And yet we haven't changed course yet because it seems like political suicide. So we've got suicide in both directions (financial and electoral), we've got a constant fight over who gets to authoritatively interpret events, and time is running out.
Of course people are getting a little ragged. I presume that events will clarify matters in the coming years as we either take courage and embark on a more realistic path or as we continue to deny the obvious and invite a rougher, but inevitable correction.
In the former case, greater civility will emerge along with a new consensus as rational policies bear fruit. In the latter case, well, destruction might produce consensus too. My fear would be a slow decline where anger accompanies each tiny death of the old blue state: the breaking of old union contracts, the firing of government workers, the loosening of regulations. All of these could cause caterwauling and discomfort all around.
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I wonder if it doesn't have a lot to do with our present circumstances. We are closely divided at a time for choosing. Will we continue our trajectory towards a European-style state? Or will we hold to a more American understanding of government? With such a big question up in the air folks are pretty cranky.
Can we look back at history and find a similar situation, in which a closely divided country led to frayed nerves and incivility? I think so. The episode that leaps to mind is George Sumner beating a Senate(?) colleague with his cane. Tempers ran high in those years before the Civil War because our future course lay in the balance.
I wonder if there wasn't a lull, beginning with FDR, because "liberalism" had won and Republicans were just tagging along, trying to slow things maybe, but not really fighting for another ideal. The Second World War brought people together as did the Cold War, at least for a generation. And early TV news was on the bandwagon too, supporting the liberal version of events.
Now, on the other hand, the media's credibility is terribly damaged and there is a constant fight over what is a truthful interpretation of events. The liberal vision for America is running into a wall (the reality of finite resources the government can use without cratering the economy.) And yet we haven't changed course yet because it seems like political suicide. So we've got suicide in both directions (financial and electoral), we've got a constant fight over who gets to authoritatively interpret events, and time is running out.
Of course people are getting a little ragged. I presume that events will clarify matters in the coming years as we either take courage and embark on a more realistic path or as we continue to deny the obvious and invite a rougher, but inevitable correction.
In the former case, greater civility will emerge along with a new consensus as rational policies bear fruit. In the latter case, well, destruction might produce consensus too. My fear would be a slow decline where anger accompanies each tiny death of the old blue state: the breaking of old union contracts, the firing of government workers, the loosening of regulations. All of these could cause caterwauling and discomfort all around.
So there's hope! :)
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