> But there's another aspect: politically and culturally the US is two nations under one roof. That division seems to grow wider and more bitter with each passing day. Nothing seems sacred in these scorched earth partisan battles to the point where the belief has set in that the ends justify the means.
The partisanship though is largely manufactured. The financial sector and a few others have bought off both parties. The Occupy Wall St and Tea Party groups have more in common than they do with the established parties. The people are remarkably united as to the huge issues but we are distracted by issues like SSM and abortion so the financial sector can take it all.
> The Occupy Wall St and Tea Party groups have more in common than they do with the established parties.
That maybe true objectively, but either camp would swear up and down and fight tooth and nail against any such comparisons. And propaganda is a science of perceptions. If people on either side believe they are on two different sides and the other side is evil then mission is accomplished.
Chomsky I believe made this point and used an example of how sports are a proxy or an instance of such mentality. The sports fans of opposing teams hate each other with passion but it turns out they have more in common between themselves than they have in common with the players they are rooting for. Players probably all like to gather in expensive country clubs and talk about yachts and sports cars they are planning on buying.
> Chomsky I believe made this point and used an example of how sports are a proxy or an instance of such mentality.
Yep. But Chomsky's points go further, in that this is a way of ensuring that any arguments over policy are remarkably narrow. This also makes the cultural variations remarkably narrow. We really have two nations, rural and urban, but this division strikes perhaps deeper within the Republican Party itself than it does so between higher levels of the two parties.
The partisanship though is largely manufactured. The financial sector and a few others have bought off both parties. The Occupy Wall St and Tea Party groups have more in common than they do with the established parties. The people are remarkably united as to the huge issues but we are distracted by issues like SSM and abortion so the financial sector can take it all.