America: one nation, under God, indivisible? Since the early 1800s, the U.S. has had different political platforms battling for dominance. Political parties began to form during George Washington's presidency, despite his dire warning against the division of government. Since then, the parties have argued, changed names, argued some more, and even switched platforms in the early 20th century.
During our 240 years of history, polarization has occurred. Our first major division was the Civil War, caused by the argument of whether African Americans deserved basic human rights. Fast forward about 100 years, and the nation is once again divided over racial segregation. From that, the Civil Rights Movement emerged.
Recently, polarization in the US has been especially hard to ignore. Between the Black Lives Matter Movement, the recent election, climate change, immigration, and countless other topics, the nation has had a lot to argue about. Although there are innumerable topics to argue over, there are always two sides: the liberals and the conservatives.
The "moderate middle" between the two sides has been slowly disappearing since the beginning of the century; Americans are either liberal democrats or conservative republicans, both parties demonizing the other. As the sides have drifted farther from each other, their ability to understand or even empathize with the other side has become practically nonexistent.
Why has this happened? Could it be political leaders? Activists? No, it's us.
The growth of social media has allowed us to tweet, share, retweet, and post our thoughts on the latest issues. Logging onto Facebook, 75 percent of my newsfeed is political posts or videos, usually belittling opposing views on whichever issue they speak of. It's become way too easy to form an opinion based on what you read on social media.
In modern, technologically advanced America, you must choose a side. There are no moderates here. Maybe George Washington was right, maybe we're not indivisible after all.
