Look at Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, who "gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal in which he suggested that he might further the conservative agenda through an occasional compromise. That provoked a tirade from Rush Limbaugh, which then produced a torrent of angry e-mails and phone calls to Issa's office. Issa quickly and publicly apologized to Limbaugh and promised only opposition to Obama."
Well, Americans don't like compromise, is this really any surprise? We are some of the most stubborn and single-minded citizens in the world. Just look at the original colonists, who created a new country rather than compromise with their leaders. And today look at our high divorce rates; we don't seem to compromise well on a social level either.
CNN needs a word other than polarization because that implies two sides. There were three sides in the House that caused the difficulties,making a majority all but impossible. In the Senate, things don't even have to be polarized much for the permanent filibuster and 60 vote requirement to kick in.
ReplyDeleteGreat point on the divorce rates. It's the increase in individualism caused by less group activities. Kids watching TV and playing one player video games instead of going outside in search of other kids to play and interact with, like I did after becoming bored with 3 TV channels. :)
Yea I know what you mean about the decrease in social activities, the breakdown of community spirit. Have you ever read Bowling Alone? It's a little dry, but its a whole book about that phenomena in America.
ReplyDeleteit has a lot of interesting facts and charts on dropping memberships in all community activities; like church, local government, social groups, ect. Adults do almost no group activities anymore and kids are doing less too. I also think that social networking has contributed to the rise of vanity, shallowness and bad bonding skills in the younger generation.
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