Why is Our Nation so Divided?

As stated by Senator John McCain, "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been."

Over the past decade, we have become a polarized nation - groups that lean from the extreme left and to the extreme right who cannot formulate the desire to find a middle ground. What influences these rival passions? 

Social media has become the largest platform of free expression for not just political leaders, but individuals who have strong passions they desire to share as well. The advantage of having social media is a crucial necessity for those who consider themselves influencers. Unfortunately, the essence of these platforms, such as instagram and twitter, have been tainted by the art of propaganda and the creation of "fake news." Far left and far right programs, such as CNN and FOX, are effective in reaching their audiences by riveting every story line to create a stimulus that every viewpoint that is not in alignment with theirs are considerably threats to our nation and seen as enemies. 

Furthermore, parties in leadership make minimal efforts for cooperation with other political parties. Considerably, majority of those elected in high offices are those who have strong and passionate aims that conflict upon with other parties, creating unnecessary arguments out of petty desires. The fact that our nation also lacks the education of current political positions and pursuits hinder them from recognizing the truth at stake; whereas we all choose to select tidbits of information, which can be twisted, on social media and taking these claims as fact.

Our nation lacks the discipline to conduct further research of what acts of government are being instilled into the institution of our United States; with the intentional twisting of information upon mainstream media sources and the lack of understanding the underlying depth of each issue, we create an institution of shattered plains which refers to solutions of anger and violence.