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Edited on Mon Jul-13-09 07:07 AM by Prism
While much is made of Red states vs. Blue states, too many places are in reality purple states. Despite the advertised differences, we have far more culturally in common with one another than at any point in American history. Television and radio did for the centralization of culture what the Civil War did for the centralization of government.
The problem is one of political marketing. We treat conservatives vs. liberals, Democrats vs. Republicans as deep, abiding differences, deficiencies of character, fundamentally different people and easy designation of "the other".
But much of this is artificial. In our countless media, enough people discovered that politics often behave like sports teams. Democrats vs. Republicans often resemble Michigan vs. Ohio fans. Hatred, ridicule, suspicion of not-quite-rightness. People like their sides, and the more the illusion is created that there are vast, unbridgeable differences, the more vigorously and loyally people will support their team.
Not coincidentally, there is a lot of money to be had in catering to this attitude. The more those differences are ramped up, the more worked up the fans get, the more media people consume, the higher the ratings go, the more cash goes flying into a profession where pundits and reporters who don't seem to know terribly much about anything at all make millions of dollars.
In a land of 300 million people, there are going to be a lot of nutters. Unavoidable. I think we're going to see more violence in the future, but I tend to peg it down to economic difficulties. The more powerless people are, the more desperate they become, and the more willing some of them are going to be to commit violence.
If I had to guess based on what I know of history, in the next few decades there is a very slight chance of a form of revolution. More bloodless coup than armed conflict. And I think a lot of the people who are at each others' throats right now, like working-class Democrats and poor, socially conservative Republicans, will find in each other the unlikeliest of allies. Again, slight chance. But the culture wars cannot hold forever. I think they only have another two or so decades left. Then it will be an economic war, and that'll certainly be interesting.
But for now, we turn on cable news and root for the home team. It's all just a digital colosseum.
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