SWMBO wrote:
It cannot be returned to one country with slight differences between parties because one half wants a system that is primarily free market capitalism with a small amount of democrat socialism thrown in. The other side(the one that will be in power in a few days) wants a one world communist government with a small number of people in control of everyone else, with serious penatilies for disobeying the rules set by the dictators in charge.
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An American Culture?
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail.
Our culture is sliced up into many pieces or factions; so much so that the common elements are very few. Consider the following slices and dices among many:
Rich Man/ Poor Man
Democrat/Republican
Democrat/Conservative
Democrat/Progressive
Liberal/Conservative
Liberal/Progressive
Republican/Conservative
Republican/Progressive
Democratic/Libertarian
Republican/Libertarian
Radical Right/Radical Left
Educated/Uneducated
White collar/Blue Collar
Religion I /Religion II /Religion III/ etc.
Religious/Non-Religious
Christian/Atheist
Christian/Non-Christian
Truth Teller/Habitual Liar
Patriot/Non-Patriot
Elite/Non-Elite
Givers/Takers
Ethical/Unethical
Moral/Immoral
Cultural Snob/Cultural Boor
Pro-America/Anti-America
Intelligent/Unintelligent
Strong/Weak
Military Experience/No Military Experience
Pride in Birth Area 1/Pride in Area 2,3...n
Ordinary Citizen/ Elite Citizen
Ordinary Citizen/Politician
Ordinary Citizen/Congressman
Ordinary Citizen/ Entrepreneurial
Leader/Follower
Statist/Federalist
Federated Republican/Collectivist, or Humanist, or Socialist or Communist (who adopted the term "Progressive" to disguise their affiliation, which is becoming more and more obvious every day!)
Management/Workers
Business Man/Others
Citizen Today/Citizen Past/Citizen Tomorrow
Lawyer/Citizen
Fluent in English/Not Fluent in English
Born American/Immigrant/Illegal Immigrant
Upstanding Citizen/Criminal
And all shades in between, with many gradations and combinations!
It is little wonder that we continuously have serious conflicts, clashes in beliefs, and ultimately nasty invective between opposing views, particularly when beliefs run so strongly, often challenging deeply held religious, emotional, inherited or reasoned beliefs! Many times the opposition uses unfair tactics to shut the citizen up and denigrate him, hoping to send him away.
We are a multicultural hodge-podge living our separate very uniquely human lives, and many, many different lifestyles, but held together socially by at least eight or so very strong beliefs and common goals:
The value of strength in numbers;
the rule of law;
the joys of our freedoms;
The economic system;
the best place to raise our children;
the opportunities for betterment,
a compelling work ethic, and in,
the love of this country. (There are more reasons, of course…)
All of our diverse cultural components contribute to a peculiar synthesis one might call an “American Culture,” but if examined closely, it quickly dissolves into some or even all of its constituent or factional parts, and even harkens back to quite different historical origins and allegiances. I suppose that if there must be such factions, it is a real blessing to have so many factions that their opinions and strengths tend to cancel each other out!
How many discussions or arguments between two people have been completely biased by their opposing factional belief systems, preventing any mutual understandings? For that matter, do we know all of the factions and ideologies our adversaries hold close? Most likely not!
The remarkable thing is that this federated, democratic, republican form of national government, with its written Constitution as the Law of the Land, has successfully held together for nearly 240 years, despite many sweeping ideological differences along the way. The differences have persisted to this day and have again become a serious divisive force in the nation.
It is time for those who believe in America, its Constitution, its common laws and its founding principles to stand up and fight for them!