I've been around a long time. Seen quite a bit of shyt in my day and relative to the time I've been around I honestly do not remember any time at all where there was unity in this country. Maybe before my time during the WW2 years there was a common purpose but even my parents told me some shyt going on then that indicated a nation at odds with each other. So when people say that Trump is causing division or Obama has created a nation divided I have to say this. It has always been a nation divided especially since I've been around. I think most nations are. It's human nature.
That's the American way, sonny.
How often have you assasinated your Presidents? Does any other democracy conduct themselves in a similar manner.
The answer is "no". What is this defect in the American soul?
It goes well beyond WWII.... It goes all the way back to the creation of the USA and the Revolution against the British Empire.
The defect in the soul is that at the root of the US core.... aggression gets tangible results.
For all the various reasons for the Revolution, taxes, being ruled by a King across the ocean, whatever... People in the US banded together and figured they could do a better job on their own. Eventually bloody conflict ensued and with the help of France against the British Empire, the US was eventually formed.
And yet since that time, there has never been an actually "United" States of the Americas because each area of the land had their own beliefs on how things should be run. Eventually these divisions brought about the Civil War between North and South of a number of more reasons.
More blood was shed until one side lost, the other won and the loser had to submit.
Yet divisions still remained and many still exist to this very day.
Every State has different laws governing different aspects of life.
Different religions hold stronger influence in one state or another.
One state embraces firearms more than another.
Another embraces drugs more than the other.
Sex trades are legal in this one, while not in the next.
The list goes on
And while that list goes on, you have two political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, who both play off of these divisions in order to get more votes for their party, in order to get more influence. In order to get more votes, they need to be aggressive by those who have different views from you as trying to attack your way of life, so vote for their party. If they lose, your way of life will be stripped away by these people.... Your life will end up harder and worse off than it currently is.
Protect yourself, someone is always out to get you one way or another.
And people take it way too far...... And as more people take it too far, others play on the fear even more, resulting in more extreme actions while it all spirals out of control.
Colonists against Loyalists
North against South
Blacks against Whites
Patriots against Asian and European Immigrants who could be Spies
Blacks against Whites again
Hippies against Conservatives
Patriots against Commies
Upper Class against Middle Class
Blacks against Law Enforcement
Law Enforcement against Blacks
People wanting strict gun laws against 2nd Amendment Defenders
The list goes beyond memory alone.....
Yet on top of all of these divided groups is the age-old Republicans against Democrats, almost as far back as the start of the above list.
Yes while certain elements of the USA is unified in many parts of life regardless of where in the US you live, the only real thing the United States is United about is being constantly Divided over almost everything imaginable.
Bush Jr put it very accurately: "You're either with us or you're with the evil doers."
US mentality in a nutshell. If you are not on my side and back me up, you're an enemy and you can get fk'd.
When aggression and violence is how your way of life was originally created ala American Revolution.... And then again through the American Civil War, and it has carried on in almost every other conflict of divisive key point in your nation's history, I wouldn't have the first clue as to how to fix something like that.
But the real problem is that leaders in the US have no idea how to fix it either. Those who tried got killed.... Those who forced their way too hard got killed and those who try and stay alive just try and blame everybody else and keep the cycle going.
It's not that Trump is causing Division.... The Division was always there. He's merely playing on that division and making it bigger / worse.
Regardless there will never be a hugs and rainbows moment for the US anytime soon. The nation will never reach a point where everybody can hold hands in solidarity as one nation. The only time the US does something similar to this is when extreme tragity occurs like WWII or 9/11, and even those times it was it about being unified over killing the sons of b*tches who were responsible for the tragity.
The US has been heading towards another Civil War-Like event for a long time now. Like the Big Californian Earthquake.... Nobody knows for sure when it will strike, but it's well overdue.
I personally don't want to see it happen as I know a lot of innocent people will suffer... And it will impact everyone around them and the world. But it's also like a train wreck you wait to happen with your bag of popcorn in hand.