Abortion, gun control, the death penalty, gay rights – the list of issues that divide Americans feels never ending. And Mugambi Jouet of Stanford University says these issues combine to make the U.S. the most polarized nation in the Western world. He joins us to talk about the cultural factors unique to our country that have paved the way for our disharmony, which he writes about in “Exceptional America: What Divides Americans from the World and from Each Other” (University of California Press).

http://think.kera.org/2017/04/17/what-divides-america/

I wouldn't put the US as the most divided nation in the world.

The causes of the divide in the US would apply to Russia and definitely China and India (India actually has worse problems than the US from what I hear).

It is the size of the nation and the size of the population. It creates different cultures that have different ways of thinking and acting.

A good example is that I'm from the South. It was culture shock to come to the Morridor. Though there are things that are similar, there are things so vastly different that trying to bridge the gulf between the two ways of thinking would seem like a nigh impossible gap to cover.

A good example is sweet tea. Sweet tea is a way of life. It is THE thing in life (well, except for coffee that is). In the Morridor, no one understands this. They can't even comprehend that you should always have a thing of sweet tea in your fridge and offer anyone a glass that comes in for a visit.

So, on to cultural differences. It is impossible to get a glass of sweet tea at many restuarants. It seems they do NOT KNOW the difference between sweet tea and unsweetened tea. They will bring a glass of Iced tea to the table, and then I have to locate sugar packets or whatever just to make it somewhat sweeter. You need to add that sugar before it's cold, people, not give me sugar packets to add to normal ice tea.

Then you have those that do provide sweet tea, but have NO IDEA what a good glass of sweet tea tastes like. I swear (though I shouldn't), people out west do not know how to make sweet tea. I think most of them are bitter because they don't know how sweet a southerner can be who has drank pure bliss found in a pitcher of perfectly made sweet tea.

To be polite, you offer people in your house a cup of sweet tea. To this day, not a soul out in the Morridor has ever offered me sweet tea on a visit. It gets a little weird when they visit me.

In fact, I think these Mormons are offended when I offer them a glass of sweet tea. I don't mean to insult them, but you'd think I'd just offered them a ticket to the ever burning pits of you know where by offering them a cup of sweet tea.

This is what I mean by cultural differences. We see things so differently.

This is why the nation is divided I think. We have so many different types of people across so vast an area, that there are different cultures of people who think very differently.

Instead of recognizing and trying to understand each other's different cultures, we want to force our cultures on everyone else (and that includes those outside the US as well, apparently). We want everyone to think like we do, rather than trying to see and appreciate what or how they think.

Maybe...

Utahns are equally convinced that the rest of the nation is a clueless cultural backwater because they don't have Fry Sauce, and even more unforgivable, don't know what it is and don't care.

Utahns take solace in the fact that they make the best darn cup of postum that you'll find anywhere in the world. The fact that postun tastes like ass water is a big nevermind to them, I suppose.

I agree that good sweet tea is very very good.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2017 09:52AM by midwestanon.

Diversity and richness and melding of cultures makes America great.

There is certainly a Babel, or Confusion principle activated in the U.S.. The currently activating resolution,or abating of the Two Political Party basic conflict appears to consist in the appearance and election of an extremely quality candidate, and a certain decay into destruction of the left-wing party, which party will I believe continue to be cursed, by the Higher Forces, with failure, impotence and inability. Personal fortunes of those who get gain from Globalism will experience considerable diminution. They visualize a come-back,it appears-but only with a complete makeover could they rebound, I believe. It's the party I was raised in, so I'm well acquainted with its basics! With the advent of Aquarius, ca. 2012. something has changed- about the Green or Fourth Ray, as the esoteric analysts would say; the liberal party is defunct, priests of Jesus (the Age Of Pisces Green Ray Christ) will become less popular, wealthy and effective- the Aquarius Christ will not be the same entity as Jesus. Jesus teachings will become naturally, firmly established in the understanding of all born, which is what's really meant by his Return or Parousia... there won't be any need to evoke the truths of it.

Issues I didn't mention, which are relevant- one is overpopulation, the real, root cause the demonstrations, which sometimes grow riotous, in California, Oregon and other areas... they should consider that the condition is more due to the democratic party than any other political agency! There has been overimmigration for over a century, one reason for this. Those demonstrators would not readily admit that their unrest is caused chiefly by being packed in to tightly- and often with those of different ethnicities, from whom separatism actually would be one facet of a higher quality civilization. By consensual agreement. There is fundamental disharmoniousness, causing Ill and suffering. The nation has been very much a Babel sort of affair, due in good part to Lincoln administration policy. The left-wing will find their pat insults and derogatory epithets will lose power and effectiveness. Many want open borders, anarchy; a collapse of the civilization. Americans should integrate with native Indians, more- to avoid a curse- chiefly!

Very true, the left is causing havoc on the country. And people are waking up to it apparently from the results of the last election (39 republican governors elected, that says something when a little over half of the country identify as democrats). The diversity and over population of California is frightening. People aren't enjoying it, Prices are sky high, people can't afford it, Ghettos are bad, people are less trusting and aren't nice to strangers, everyone has to lock their doors.

"Babel" as you mentioned isn't working out well. What we are turning into is a nation of people not settled anywhere with any culture, roots, or heritage. Poor people are immigrating from state to state looking for an untarnished, unblemished land, a land of conservative right-wing values, of tradition, of ownership, distance from government, where there is cooperation, and hard work, they are looking for the 1950s leave it to beaver kind of place. They call themselves social liberals but want to raise their kids amongst the far right. I can't tell you how many times I"ve met an immigrant from southern California come up north with that same story. And oddly they themselves (or their grandkids) are often the ones that are the anarchists, the ones creating the problems.

But free speech is what makes America great, it's what the right stands for. And we have to be patient with drifters and try to kindly show them the "right" way. And accept them to some extent



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2017 08:54AM by poopstone.

I knew you wouldn't disappoint! Damn that California. They do everything wrong, and they're still the richest, most entrepreneurial, best educated state in the country. Life isn't fair.

Accept them to some extent? You have made clear in your posts that rant against immigrants, anything that is considered left-wing, women, foreigners, and anyone who has the audacity to disagree with Donald Trump that you have no tolerance or acceptance of anything that doesn't reflect your idiotic fifties era values- where white people were in charge, women and black people knew their place, and segregation was rampant. Ah, yes, what a joyous time that was.

People who look to the fifties as the Golden Age of America are people who never lived through the time or who had their eyes shut so tight and there hands clasped so firmly over their ears they were blind to the horrible racism, riots, and social problems that paved the way for the things that make America a place that's a thousand times better to live in then it was during the fifties.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2017 09:58AM by midwestanon.

There is an all white Afrikaner colony in South Africa called Orania. It's just as you describe:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orania,_Northern_Cape

There's only one problem. They can't find enough people to move there...

lol, Betty G. When I moved to the South, I had to learn about sweet tea. I call it tea syrup, compared to Northern tea-drinking sweetness. When ordering tea in the South, Northerners give themselves away as being Northern by requesting "half cut" tea (half sweet, half unsweetened), but even that is still too sweet. Most all of the beverages are sweeteer than Northern recipes, being nearly at the level of sweetness as pancake syrup (not thickness, but sweetness). I think they're trying to send me to a diabetic hell. ;)

I am on my phone and the audio won't play from the link, but I'd lke to hear it later. Book by it's cover, I know, but to claim that America is the "most polarized" nation in the "Western World" ignores events like Brexit and other major divides among EU member nations. The author must have failed to look at a map. Overlay the nearly 4 million square miles of a US map onto any part of a map of Western Europe, and you will find the same diversity and divisions. We US citizens are not obligated to "remain true" to the ethnicity of our ancestors, nor claim that any one ancestry is "superior" to another.

And, we have a much "larger" conversation, laws and mores being of a common languange, tooling our thoughts and beliefs. I don't have to learn a new language to discuss sweet tea with Betty G, nor she to grasp my words, but we can argue how sweet is too sweet 'til the cows come home, and she will know exactly what that means. It means that we Northern and Southern will park ourselves on the porch, each sipping our own tea, talk both deep and shallow, shake hands or give a quick hug, and be off to our own until we meet again.

I also think that a lot of money is to be made capitalizing on our diversity. Do I think that "the other party" is "pure evil?" No, but that premise sure sells a lot of ads. Do I believe that all Christians want to kill all atheists (or all Muslims want to kill all Christians)? No, but every single act of hatred is publicized as "a member" of that religion, though not representative of the majority of the group.

Even pointing to this last election, were it not for the electoral college, we would still be at each other's throats over "voter fraud." For me, it was a defeat, but I can adjust and still conduct myself as a responsible citizen. "My guy" didn't win (not that she was a palatable choice, either). It doesn't mean that I need to tear the winner to proverbial shreds, but I do hope that he gets a better, wiser team to support him (c'mon - give me that. The man knows how to say "You're fired!")

And, I'm a "guilty" participant, but have no shame about it. Steve B.'s cartoons warm my heart, make me feel less alone, while others send him hate mail. Steve can still rub me the wrong way, but I will defend his right to do so.

But I digress. The point is, I don't know that those not reared in the US can view our diversity as the parts of the whole sum that they are. And, if I were to try to define "American exceptionalism," I would have to say that it is the collective belief that together, we are greater than the sum of our parts.

Odd that racism isn't on this list of issues that divide us. I guess that was too obvious.

This is an effect of something deeper. Ideological thinkers are barking at shadows, without looking at the root cause. Just like the annoying neighbor dog that barks at everything.

If you take the time to actually get to understand the economic undercurrents at play the chaos and confusion snaps into focus.

If you can wrap your mind around the economics at play you'll be so far ahead of most of the general population. People are starting to brandish their pitch forks, but are too uneducated or in denial to point them in the correct direction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K8bf6dbYt4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkm2Vfj42FY

In a broad sense, we are no longer speaking the same language. The nation is so polarized between radically different concepts of culture, personhood, social structures, etc. I've never seen our nation so divided in my life time and I am including the 60s in that.

While the right has truly vile fringe elements, the left, with some exceptions, is simply certifiable now. There was a period in which I could agree with the left on some points and disagree on others, but still understand their perspective. Now it is boiling down to those that adhere to a certain degree of normalcy and those that demand, in the loudest, most shrill voices, for the positively insane. There is a reason why the backlash came hard in fast. The GOP now has the White House, the Senate, the House, 33 governor’s offices, 32 state legislatures, and will be appointing federal judges for at least four years. If that isn't a great big wake up call to moderates or lefties, then I don't know what it is going to take.

Welrod Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In a broad sense, we are no longer speaking the
> same language. The nation is so polarized between
> radically different concepts of culture,
> personhood, social structures, etc. I've never
> seen our nation so divided in my life time and I
> am including the 60s in that.
>
> While the right has truly vile fringe elements,
> the left, with some exceptions, is simply
> certifiable now. There was a period in which I
> could agree with the left on some points and
> disagree on others, but still understand their
> perspective. Now it is boiling down to those that
> adhere to a certain degree of normalcy and those
> that demand, in the loudest, most shrill voices,
> for the positively insane. There is a reason why
> the backlash came hard in fast. The GOP now has
> the White House, the Senate, the House, 33
> governor’s offices, 32 state legislatures, and
> will be appointing federal judges for at least
> four years. If that isn't a great big wake up
> call to moderates or lefties, then I don't know
> what it is going to take.

I don't understand how not being bigoted and treating people with fairness and human dignity is a left or right issue.

Suppose you went back in time to 1759 and you heard someone say that black people were not fully human and were some form of degenerate life. What do you think would happen if you told them that wasn't true, that all modern humans came from Africa, that racial differences are adaptations to different climates, and that all humans were of the same race and could interbreed with each other? Do you think they might tell you that you were certifiable?

Take LGBT people for example. Some people think that no such thing exists and come up with all kinds of political reasons claming that the loony left just wants to re-define sex or marriage for some nefarious purpose. This isn't true. Modern science tells us that for some reason which is currently unknown such individuals are developmentally different than straight or cisgendered people. They aren't better or worse but just different with a different brain structure. It just happens. There's no plot or conspiracy -- just a recognition of what exists.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2017 07:25PM by anybody.

We are confused, misinformed and divided because we are being lied to. What better way to neutralize the will of the people than to muddy the water, confuse, distract and lie to them and get them fighting over the issues and what the truth really is?

The media lies. If anyone has trouble believing this lets take a look at all the historical as well as current evidence and I will connect the many dots that will support my assertion.

How can a people come together, identify their common interests and govern their own affairs if they are uninformed, misinformed and distracted from the truth? What purpose would anyone have for misinforming the masses?

This is an important topic I would love to explore here if others are interested but I typically shy away from this type of discussion as this is a discussion board dedicated to recovery from Mormonism.