Why America Is Bitterly Divided

Political America is bitterly divided at the moment, and for a reason that I see no one discussing.

Our country was founded as part oligarchy and part representative democracy. That system has demonstrated stability but also a weakness. Our leadership, strongly influenced by the rich, can and does lose touch at times with what ordinary people want.

One negative consequence is that ordinary people, sensing the government has little interest in them or their problems, ignore the government and don’t vote. For nearly half of our population, both major parties seem too distant to bother with. For these nonvoters the government seems irrelevant. 

A second negative consequence is that many ordinary people who do vote become frustrated. Their own out-of-touch parties are not listening or might pay the voters lip service while actively serving the oligarchy. 

In the last Presidential season (2016), voters in both parties attempted to overthrow their leaders at the Presidential level. The Republican voters succeeded and nominated an outsider, Donald Trump, a malignant narcissist. The Democratic voters nearly nominated a democratic socialist (Bernie Sanders), who found strength in the fact that he didn’t belong to the Democratic Party.