One hundred and six years ago Abraham Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech. In today’s political environment it’s worth repeating that historic line “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Before researching this post… I thought of issues over the years that divided our country: voting rights, labor unrest, women’s rights, segregation, and Vietnam. I learned it is now the legacy of race, capitalism and the breaking up of the media landscape.
Today’s politics is creating deep divides…not only about issues but culture and character. 21st century issues dividing us are immigration, abortion, gun policy, economics and if that isn’t enough, climate change, racial justice, law enforcement and international engagement (whose side are we on). How did the world’s most powerful country arrive at this juncture? Our politicians urged on by the media have ignored or taken advantage of the nature of race, capitalism, and self-promotion.
The United States took too long to address the structural issues of racism. The Civil War was over nearly 100 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. .
America became known for its innovation & entrepreneurship. This generated the kinds of innovations and growth that were exported around the world. The result has been immigrants making their way to the U.S. with the hope of putting their ideas to work. But there is another side to America’s style of capitalism. It allows for inequality of outcomes and those workers left behind by free trade. We are now faced by a divided workforce, concerned about their survival where the haves get more and the have-nots less.
In terms of our media landscape, it has become fractured. Along came social media with talk radio, cable news and internet. Now consumers could pick those that reinforced their own viewpoint. Algorithms arrived and achieved in promoting extremist and misleading material. This came at a cost of confusion and a schizophrenic public.
Our nation’s leadership must make compromises to address the issues of the day – or they will further divide us.
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