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Wednesday, Jun 27, 2012 4:45 PM UTC

America’s real divisions

Americans aren't as divided over politics as the pundits say. But they disagree on everything else SLIDE SHOW

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America's real divisions (Credit: Magone via Shutterstock/Salon)

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Regrettably, we are entering the season in which nearly every cable TV news station, talk radio program, newspaper column and blog post will insist that America is deeply “polarized” and ineluctably “divided” along political party lines. This platitude has surpassed mere momentary talking point. It is vapid, ubiquitous tautology posing as substantive analysis — a thrumming, never-ending background noise that fills the silences when our monstrous Political-Media Industrial Complex pauses to take a breath.

The sad thing is, politics really isn’t that polarized. Despite the red-versus-blue summer-camp color war portrayed by the media, the last few years have seen a strong bipartisan consensus around bank bailouts, wars, civil liberties policies, deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy (to name a few issues). Indeed, considering this kleptocratic duopoly, a little more political polarization might be helpful.

That said, there are genuine divides in America — the kind that are so deep and unbridgeably “with-us-or-against-us” that each side has trouble understanding, getting along with and/or socializing with the other. These splits, which represent the real chasms in America, are so profound that each side becomes immediately suspicious of the other when finding out which side they are on. Here are 10 of the biggest ones in no particular order.

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David Sirota

David Sirota is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, magazine journalist and the best-selling author of the books "Hostile Takeover," "The Uprising" and "Back to Our Future." E-mail him at ds@davidsirota.com, follow him on Twitter @davidsirota or visit his website at www.davidsirota.com. More David Sirota.

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  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

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  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

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  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

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