It seems lately like everywhere, on both the Right and the Left, we are hearing a chorus of voices tell us America is hopelessly divided and on the brink of a second civil war.
The level of rancor and incivility characterizing much of our contemporary political dialogue appears to confirm as much on a daily basis. It appears Left and Right have arrived at irreconcilable worldviews, disagreeing on first principles, core convictions, specific policy choices and ultimate ends. Increasingly, they seem unable to see eye to eye even when it comes to pure matters of fact.
But what if the appearance of a great, insuperable divide is vastly overstated or even being deliberately amplified by forces that benefit from division? The gulf on certain significant matters is substantial, to be sure, and yet when we turn to look one by one at some of the most high-profile issues, we see that the split may be greatly overstated.
There is a great deal of talk about transsexual athletes, especially when men and boys seek a shortcut to the awards podium by competing against women and girls. The reality, however, is that a strong majority of Americans—62 percent—hold the commonsense view that athletes shouldn’t get to compete in categories other than those corresponding to their birth genders, while only 34 percent have a different view.
The streaming of illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border has become the subject of apparently fierce debate, and yet, looking behind the headlines, a clear 71 percent of Americans believe it is unacceptable for people to enter this country illegally.
“Defunding the police” is a policy proposal that has been headline news ever since the BLM protests and riots of summer 2020. However, this one isn’t even close: 84 percent of Americans oppose defunding, with 47 percent believing that funding for police should actually be increased. Only 15 percent favor less funding. This may be in no small part because, as another recent poll found, 77 percent of registered voters are “extremely” or “very” concerned about rising crime, including, for example, 74 percent of voters in traditionally liberal bastions such as New York City.
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https://amgreatness.com/2022/02/19/america-is-not-divided-its-being-hijacked/
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