The Three Divisions Of The Political/Social Divide
It is the common way to think of America as a politically divided nation along the lines of right and left, but much more accurately the nation is split three ways, although there is a heavy useful overlap between two of the three.
The first group might be called the royalists corporate conservatives. These are the wealthy elite, the greedy who hate it when national riches fail to flow upwards to themselves. They therefore oppose any and all social programs that benefit the many — Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, etc.
The next group is the populist, folks mostly devoid of intellect who respond almost exclusively to their primitive tribal impulses — me and my kind, my family, my church and God, my work, my state and my country. All others are at best barely tolerated, often hated and sometimes outright attacked. They would be the Klan, super patriot groups, those deep into wild conspiracy theories and religious fundamentalists. Fox News and alt-right talk radio would be their preferred sources of info.
The first group often cleverly exploits this second group. Wall Street Republicans being relatively few in numbers are often dependent upon conning the populists into voting for those whom would push a “one percent” agenda. All that is required along these lines is to loudly pander to the xenophobia of the populists while quietly enacting those things, often written in obscure language, that mainly benefit the wealthy. It works every time. This is the playbook of President Trump.
This is also potentially the most dangerous and violent element of society, especially the new poor among it. Candidate Trump pandered to its violent streak, setting off anti-Semitic explosions of viciousness that are now hard to rein in.
The last group is the socialist positives, but not exclusively leftists. The primary philosophy of this group is to push for those things that benefit the most for the most. Peace and prosperity for all peoples would be their mantra. Their ranks are filled with creative types, academics, scientists, minorities and the mainstream media. They are a tolerant bunch that places a high value on truth and honesty. Moreover they may not necessarily be religious, but much of the philosophy of Jesus would be how they live their lives helping others in practical ways.
While they represent the largest block of Americans they have a difficult time competing politically with the hard-nosed, no holds barred, anything goes mentality of the combined weight of the first two groups. These are the folks who truly believe in American idealism, democracy and the value of government potential. Their strength is they don’t like to fight dirty. Their weakness is they don’t fight dirty.
