The Great Divide II

I can't imagine anyone, other than the media, likes the level of divisiveness in our country at the moment. This guy has some answers to help minimize it.

I can't help but think that it is driven by two main forces at play: competitiveness and fear.

Competitiveness - Americans are winners and cowboys. We like to be on the winning team. Better yet, we like to be the MVP on the winning team. Many of us don't get the chance to win in our daily lives, so we try to obtain our victories through others. The two most popular are sports teams and, you guessed it, political parties. I can't tell you how many people I've encountered that have picked a party, but can't really speak intelligently about the underlying principles that have guided that party through time. That's kind of sad.

Fear - This one isn't as powerful or pervasive, but there's no doubt that nothing creates more fear than uncertainty. We are afraid of the future because we have no idea what's coming. The only way we can reduce uncertainty is to pick a side and hope that we at least come out victorious, regardless of whether the victory is good for the country.

Regardless of what's driving it, divisiveness is not good for the country. Progress is limited when two sides do not listen to each other. Under these circumstances, compromise is superficial at best. It's one thing for politicians to act in divisive ways, but it really becomes a problem when the citizens join in on a large scale.

Stop the presses and shut down the political spin machine for a moment. Let's talk about how we can move forward as a country, not as Republicans and Democrats. We are in danger of losing our "Greatest nation on Earth" status, but it's not too late.