America: Conflictual or Consensual?

The United States of America is and has almost always been a very conflictual country. Since the founding of our country in 1776, America has been known as a safe haven to the rest of the world, where anyone from anywhere can seek a new, more fulfilling life. In the 242 years America has been a country, numerous different cultures, races, and political ideas have entered into our country to form what we know as "The American Melting Pot". However, the melting pot claims that all differences blend into one big American culture, but this is just not the case. In our country today, there are many different political parties that are a part of our government, and each of these groups have their own specific views, that in most cases, clash with the views of one or more competing groups.

The two groups that are focused on most are the Republicans (Red), and the Democrats (Blue). The republicans are represented by the elephant, and the democrats the donkey. This political cartoon created by Jeff Stahler is a very important example on just how conflictual these two groups are. The two animals in this case not only represent the republican an democratic politicians, but also the people in America who side with each party. In the cartoon, each animal is saying opposite of what the other is, and this shows how divided our opinions in this country are. For example, a more recent issue is gun control, the democrats are strongly pushing for more gun control in order to keep a more safe community where mass shootings are not a big issue. However, the republicans totally disagree with their stance, and believe that Americans have the right to own, carry, and use guns. No matter what, there is always going to be conflict between these two groups and other groups like conservatives and liberals. Another example of the United States being conflictual is stated in the article One Nation, Slightly Divisible by David Brooks. In his article, Brooks discusses the differences between the people that live in the red states, and the blue states, and how their differences in political ideology divide them. Brooks tells us that "America is divided between two moral systems. Red America is traditional, religious, self-disciplined, and patriotic. Blue America is modern, secular, self expressive, and discomforted by blatant displays of patriotism" (Brooks 3). These are only a few examples of how the two are divided, however, this shows the morals of each group. The red states are more likely to have people that are very religious based, which means their beliefs are going to be based more on their religion as opposed to the people from the blue states, who are more secular, and do not believe in religion as much. For example, people from the red states, are more likely to not support things like gay marriage, and gay rights, because that is not something that is acceptable in their religion. But the people in the blue states do not practice religion as much, and are not as traditional, so they do support these issues. Another great example of how the American political culture is demonstrated in the video The Great Divide-Red Vs. Blue States. In these videos, the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, and the governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn discuss their different stances on different political issues. Governor Perry, who is a republican, told us his stance on healthcare. He says "I'm for allowing the states to decide how to dispense healthcare rather than letting one place in America decide how all of us are supposed to live". Governor Perry, being a republican, shows that he has more conservative views on how the government should be run. He wants the federal government to be less involved in the people's lives, and believes that providing healthcare is a detriment to the economy. Governor Quinn, on the other hand, argues that the hardworking people deserve to have proper health coverage, and he had no problem accepting the money from Washington to help those people out. Both governors have very conflicting ideals. Governor Perry and the republicans believe in the conservative views where the economy is very important, and Governor Quinn and the democrats believe in the more liberal views, where the Federal government needs to be a big part of people's lives, and the peoples rights are focused on more than the economy. No matter the situation. there will always be a divide in our country, because there are too many diverse cultures and ideas that make up The United States. And if you think about it, maybe that isn't such a bad thing. America is what it is today because of those different views.