Divided We Stand

I can't think of any time in history when the US wasn't a divided nation. The American Revolution only had the active support of a third of the populace. The main reason they prevailed is that they were better organized than the other two thirds. Then there was the Civil War. That only lasted four years, but the country had been leading up to it since forever and, by some accounts, they ain't over it yet. Between the Civil War and World War II, there were a number of ongoing internal conflicts. People argued, and sometimes fought, about the monetary system, the national banking system, the income tax, the organization of labor unions, property rights, water rights, voting rights, and the consumption of alcohol and other drugs. World War II briefly brought everybody together but, after that, it was back to business as usual, with the addition to the list of racial rights, gender rights, gay rights, abortion rights, student rights, gun rights, animal rights and, of course, the Vietnam War. Mark my words, sometime in the not too distant future, they will be arguing about the rights of intelligent machines. It's only a matter of time.

One reason that people tend to think that the world is going to hell in a handbasket is that we know more about what's going on in the world now than ever before. In addition to our own local problems, we've got to worry about hurricanes in the East, wildfires in the West, melting ice caps in the North and South, earthquakes in various places, wars and rumors of wars all over the world, the unequal distribution of wealth, crumbling infrastructure, and now, mass murderers.

It just occurred to me that, while the rate of mass murders is rising, most of the other crime rates have been falling for some time. I wonder if there's a connection or it's just a coincidence. Somebody should do a study about that.