How America Fractured into Four Parts

[UKGrad93]

I would say that I'm part of Smart America, but I have some roots/family in Real America. My daughter seemed to be leaning toward Just America.

 

[RonaldMexico]

We've definitely become more isolated, insulated and separated.

Agreed. When people are no longer able to disagree without emotion, you get the tribalism we see now. We now deal in absolutes and fear real conversations about the country we live in (or anything else for that matter).

Really, we have turned into a bunch of pussies.

 

[Pepperman]

You may be in Smart America, but you have the grievance culture and martyr complex part of Real America down pat.

I meant it as assholes like you will try to say “no, trust me, I can tell you a part of you belongs elsewhere” which is exactly what you did. You and another asshole.

 

[z_ape]

I meant it as assholes like you will try to say “no, trust me, I can tell you a part of you belongs elsewhere” which is exactly what you did. You and another asshole.

Hey, I'll throw your cock out the window.

 

[Pepperman]

Hey, I'll throw your cock out the window.

no thanks, but I don’t even know what you mean by that. You jealous I didn’t call you an asshole too, asshole?

 

[z_ape]

no thanks, but I don’t even know what you mean by that. You jealous I didn’t call you an asshole too, asshole?

I dunno either, I was just trying to fit in with some "Real America" humor.

 

[ICWestfan]

Damn - this is pretty scathing about SJWs (and pretty accurate, IMO):

There are too many things that Just America can’t talk about for the narrative to get at the hardest problems. It can’t talk about the complex causes of poverty. Structural racism—ongoing disadvantages that Black people suffer as a result of policies and institutions over the centuries—is real. But so is individual agency, and in the Just America narrative, it doesn’t exist. The narrative can’t talk about the main source of violence in Black neighborhoods, which is young Black men, not police. The push to “defund the police” during the protests over George Floyd’s murder was resisted by many local Black citizens, who wanted better, not less, policing. Just America can’t deal with the stubborn divide between Black and white students in academic assessments. The mild phrase achievement gap has been banished, not only because it implies that Black parents and children have some responsibility, but also because, according to anti-racist ideology, any disparity is by definition racist. Get rid of assessments, and you’ll end the racism along with the gap.

I’m exaggerating the suddenness of this new narrative, but not by much. Things changed astonishingly quickly after 2014, when Just America escaped campuses and pervaded the wider culture. First, the “softer” professions gave way. Book publishers released a torrent of titles on race and identity, which year after year won the most prestigious prizes. Newspapers and magazines known for aspiring to reportorial objectivity shifted toward an activist model of journalism, adopting new values and assumptions along with a brand-new language: systemic racism, white supremacy, white privilege, anti-Blackness, marginalized communities, decolonization, toxic masculinity. Similar changes came to arts organizations, philanthropies, scientific institutions, technology monopolies, and finally corporate America and the Democratic Party. The incontestable principle of inclusion drove the changes, which smuggled in more threatening features that have come to characterize identity politics and social justice: monolithic group thought, hostility to open debate, and a taste for moral coercion.

Just America has dramatically changed the way Americans think, talk, and act, but not the conditions in which they live. It reflects the fracturing distrust that defines our culture: Something is deeply wrong; our society is unjust; our institutions are corrupt. If the narrative helps to create a more humane criminal-justice system and bring Black Americans into the conditions of full equality, it will live up to its promise. But the grand systemic analysis usually ends in small symbolic politics. In some ways, Just America resembles Real America and has entered the same dubious conflict from the other side. The disillusionment with liberal capitalism that gave rise to identity politics has also produced a new authoritarianism among many young white men. Just and Real America share a skepticism, from opposing points of view, about the universal ideas of the founding documents and the promise of America as a multi-everything democracy.

I would say that most liberal posters on HROT identify with this group, whether they realize it or not.

 

[torbee]

I would say that most liberal posters on HROT identify with this group, whether they realize it or not.

Many - including me - are often-allies with that group. But definitely not members.

 

[torbee]

None of the above. The article is nonsense.

Long decline in public investment? Starving social programs?

Show me where these things have actually been consistently cut over the past 40 years.

This is funny, as the linked article has actual citations embedded in it. 😂

 

[torbee]

I meant it as assholes like you will try to say “no, trust me, I can tell you a part of you belongs elsewhere” which is exactly what you did. You and another asshole.

If the shoe fits, my man. Maybe it’s your obvious anger that makes people see it that way? I dunno, something to think about.

 

[ICWestfan]

Many - including me - are often-allies with that group. But definitely not members.

Did you link the whole article? I did not click the link yet as they said it's behind a pay wall.

 

[torbee]

What would be really interesting to see is the current demographic trajectory of each of those cohorts. That could tell you a lot about future elections.

 

[torbee]

Did you link the whole article? I did not click the link yet as they said it's behind a pay wall.

It is linked in OP.

 

[thewop]

What a load of crap. There's good stuff in each and things everyone identifies with. I'm smart and free and real.

If you fit squarely into a quadrant as described, get out more, your life is on the pathetic side.

 

[ThorneStockton]

What a load of crap. There's good stuff in each and things everyone identifies with. I'm smart and free and real.

If you fit squarely into a quadrant as described, get out more, your life is on the pathetic side.

Did you read it?

 

[torbee]

What a load of crap. There's good stuff in each and things everyone identifies with. I'm smart and free and real.

If you fit squarely into a quadrant as described, get out more, your life is on the pathetic side.

I would imagine most people have parts of all.

I am very patriotic - especially World Cup, olympics and world wars.

I also have a pretty strong libertarian streak and am very pro first amendment, which is why a lot of PC/woke stuff makes me roll my eyes.

But I align politically almost completely with the meritocratic quadrant.