As the 21st Century has matured, the divide in the United States has gotten more and more pronounced. While in many ways it is tribal (simply look at what either major political faction will scream bloody murder about when they are the opposition, and then look the other way when it is done while their people are in office), there is a fundamental fracture in the fabric of American society. And that fissure is deepening.
More and more voices call for the utter destruction of anyone who disagrees with them, no matter how petty or nonsensical the disagreement is. A side with more and more power is demanding that things that are more and more demonstrably false and counter-factual be held up as right, true, and good, and threaten the livelihoods, or the lives, of anyone who refuses.
The fracture appears to be largely along political lines. But it has become much deeper than that, a cultural divide between people who assume the worst of each other, in some cases simply because of the color of skin. And the politicians and tech giants who make their millions use that divide more and more, stoking the fires of the mob for their own profit and power.
The United States was founded as a representative republic. The Federal Government ultimately answered to the states, which were sovereign political entities of their own. While the House of Representatives was elected by the popular vote in each state, the Senate was appointed by the State legislatures. This was designed to adhere to the principle of subsidiarity, where problems get solved at the lowest, most local level possible.
But as with all popular government, going back to Athens’ democracy, that wasn’t enough for some. And so, the safeguards that preserved that principle of subsidiarity were slowly eroded, and in the name of “Democracy,” the mob became the operating political principle.
