How did our US culture become so polarized and politicized?

A lot of things have changed our country.

1. We have watered down our educational system.

2. We have been fed the line that we are what is important.

3. We have been a sheltered generation that knows no strife.

4. We have been taught that you can beat the system.

5. We have a political system that has run amok.

6. We have a court system that has run amok.

It is the combination of all these things that has created the world that we live in today.

Our government has done all it can to remove religion from public discussion.

We are being taught to a good extend by the hippies of the sixties in many of our colleges.

Our country is becoming much like Rome in the days of Nero.

grace2u

Escapism, distraction, excessive obligation, and laziness.

Most of us are overworked by corporation that, instead of hiring more people, they simply dump the work onto the existing employees without raising pay.

From there, we go home exhausted. We don't want to watch about the deaths and violence in the world (which is all the news talks about). So, we watch The Simple Life or other mindless entertainment to escape our reality.

And that's only when we don't have to clean the house, pay the bills, take the kids to ________ practice, work out, cook dinner, etc.

All of this obligation and escapism takes away any interest in intellectual pursuit. For instance, if you ask people to look at their beliefs from a logical perspective, very few would know how to do that. They wouldn't understand, and they wouldn't know where to start. With such a monumental task, they find it overwhelming, and give up before they start.

We exist to survive, and in the U.S., we need money to survive. With the poverty rate at $8 an hour, we need to get educated and stay current to make enough to survive. But the education we receive has little to nothing to do with anything beyond surviving in the corporate world.

Students at colleges are not interested in intellectual pursuit. They want a degree because they want a job that pays well. Of the students I teach, I'd say fewer than 5% are in college to learn anything. They simply want the degree. And colleges are catering to that. I have to argue with my students about the relevance of what I teach (composition and critical thinking). They believe that neither are practical, so the knowledge is useless.

For example, in my critical thinking class, I teach the classical forms of logical argument. I have had several students say, "No one actually uses this type of thinking, so there's no point in learning it." I look at them and say, "If you are content not being a critical thinker, that is your business."

I could go on and on, but I recognize the struggle on both ends. I try hard to stay informed on major issues, but I simply don't have the time to read as many news sources as I would like. On top of that, I get angry and depressed after I read the news. I've gotten so angry that I've almost stopped reading the news. I'm tired of reading about politicians who pit voters against one another. It's disgusting.

I'll stop there. Bleh.

I think it's the Internet. I love the net of course. Best invention ever. But, it has it's pitfalls as it is a very effective means of getting information to people, whether for good or bad.

To clarify, some of the most outspoken, opinionated people are posting on the net. There is very little of the middle of the road being represented. It begins to feel like there is no middle.

For example, I never knew I was a hippie, communist, God-hating homeschooling freak until I read about it on the net. Problem is, as an atheist homeschooler and a democrat and wife of a soldier, I'm not really sure what "side" I'm supposed to be on. I am sure eventually someone will tell me.

Dude,all of us would be baffled if we all admitted just how much the media,TV,movies,and man's philosophy dictates how people feel and think.Personally I don't trust the news we all read on the Internet.The media has a bad habit of showing nothing but the bad stuff anymore,and they dwell on personalities that I would bet most of us don't give a hill of beans about.

This is a deep question and you have many good points.

I will attempt to provide a short itemized list of causes. You can decide for yourself whether or not they are true. You can also decide for yourself how many of them are accidental and natural and how many of them are at least possibly intentional and manufactured.

Television:

…mostly provides distraction ( sports, titillation and fluff) not educational material.

People are encouraged to root for their favorite teams. In fact, they often foster violent demonstrations of rampant centrism, based on locality or some other irrational allegiance.

TV often capitalizes on stereotypes for villains in plot. So do modern movies which feature enemies as separate protagonists, (people or groups) instead of focusing on conceptual enemies such as ignorance, greed or dishonesty.

News propaganda supports "us against them" ideals. Muslim vs. Christian, black vs. White, Nationals vs. immigrants, good vs. evil etc.

School serves to indoctrinate not educate.

Children learn to make derisive commentary about others in social settings like school.

Children are forced to attend school ( a social setting) before they have the maturity to recognize human similarities far outweigh racial or social differences.

Politicians:

…divide people into groups for campaigning and making special laws.

Political parties divide people into conservative and liberal groups for the purpose of divisive arguments and motivation.

Business:

…divides people into groups based on their usefulness to the business and treats most people as expendable commodities.

Huge global corporations take advantage of groups based on their economic hardship, local political corruption and race.

Social acceptance is often based on highly divisive materialistic recognition; the “haves” vs. the “have-nots.”

Most of these can be seen as merely a by product of global competition. They can also be viewed as intentional crimes perpetrated by an elite group of profiteering bankers hell-bent on world domination. I will not express an opinion here because it is impossible to prove in such a limited format.

However, if you would like to learn more in a very entertaining and informative format, just go to Google videos and search for the movie, “Zeitgeist.”

It is in three parts, each as edifying as the next. The production value is good, the music is good and the facts are irrefutable. Watch it. Tell others.

Zeitgeist, has many answers that you seek.

I think its human nature to be clique-ish when it comes to politics and religion. Look at all the wars that have been fought throughout history. How many were fought over something other than politics or religion?

I think that you are thinking way too hard for a friday dude. The weekend is here sit back have a drink and chill.

let's face it. in the categories of religion, philosophy, society, and politics, most of the questions are just rephrased opinions anyway. people aren't really looking for hard answers, like they are in other sections like cooking and cars. they're looking to reinforce their own views and converse with people who share them. and they're hoping some idiot who thinks otherwise will respond so their faithful like-thinkers will shower him or her with negative ratings. it's just the nature of debating things like this and seeing how your view fares in the face of the opponent. it doesn't surprise me at all.

When has America ever been anything but polarized and politicized? That's part of what makes it great. Freedom to express differing views.

The Ego and Pride of each individual