A Nation Divided?

I have noticed a troubling trend in our country lately. There seems to be divisions of all kinds being made more and more clear, economic, social, racial, and political. In the last week, I have seen several thing on TV regarding the differences between us in this country. I don't know if this is a rolling trend that I am too young to remember, or if this is something new. I have to say, I hope for the former.

I was watching a re-run of an Saturday Night Live episode that originally aired during the 2000 Presidential campaigns. It was practically a race to see which candidate could be more moderate. However, the last 4 years, especially, since 9/11 and the subsequent war, has brought on a political polarization that will be evident in the upcoming mid-term elections. There is also the ongoing immigration debate and terrorist threats, both of which stimulate racial prejudice. Now, I know that in politics, there are ebbs and flows of moderation, and division, but this is just one of many divisions plaguing us right now.

I very rarely catch Oprah. But yesterday, she did a show on class in America. According to statistics, 1% of America controls about 40% of the money. That top 1% makes an average of about $850,000 a year. The rest of the 99% makes an average of $34,000. Tragic, isn't it? And we have such a skewed view of how many rich people there are, and how easy it is to get rich. We are in a celebrity-obsessed culture. After shows like American Idol, everyone thinks they can be rich and famous, but after the hundreds of thousands of people who have auditioned in the last 4 years, only about 8 or so have gone on to successful, money-making careers. This show was initially about stereotypes and people judging strangers: who is in which class based on what they look like. But the point was basically the same: it's harder now to fake what class you are in. They also pointed our how it has become more difficult to move up the social ladder, that the gap between lower and upper classes is broadening, and that the middle class is shrinking. When I was growing up, we were on the lower edge of middle class, but my parents still pulled off private schools for elementray school, and a nice minivan. Each of us kids had a vehicle to drive in high school. I consider my parents to be a respectable, stable, solid, middle class family. But, as this show points out, I doubt my siblings or I will get much higher. We may each get to upper-middle class, but I don't forsee any of us being upper class.

The show that came on right after Oprah was Primetime. I only watched the first few minutes of it, but that was enough. The were talking about HIV. African Amercans make up about 13% of the population (I can't quite come to grips with that number, but whatever they say...) but that over 50% of new HIV cases are in African Americans. The largest growing population of new HIV cases in the US is black women. I also heard about the new season of Survivor. They will be dividing the contestants into 4 groups based on race: white, black, asian, and hispanic. They are catching a lot of flack for this, but I don't know. I think it could be interesting. I think people have become so obsessed with being PC that is is now driving more of a racial wedge amongst us, like social a backlash. What happened to recognizing and embracing our differences? They did the gender thing didn't they? Men vs. Women? I don't really see the difference. They may as well group people together by hair color or people with freckles against those without. There are fundamental, genetic differences in all of us, and that's the truth. I don't know why people are so afraid of that? Did you know that a pathologist can almost always accurately determine sex, ethinicity, and an approximate age base only on bones? Bones is all it takes to identify the most fundamental and recognizable things about each of us.

I hope this is just a rotation in society. If not, it looks like we are poised for even more severe division, which just cannot be good for us. Hopefully it will not take a major tragedy to unite us. 9/11 and Katrina were helpful, and devestating, but we just forget so quickly. We end up blaming each other once the shock wears off. Hopefully society can come full circle and end up more united than ever.