America can still unite

A nation born out of a break with the king inherited its birthright – dissent. Generation after generation faced the test of conflict management: crafting the constitution itself, with all its convictions and compromises; balancing local and federal centres of power; civil war Exposing cracks in the foundations of democracy; the struggles over rights and responsibilities, suffrage, prohibition, isolation and intervention, followed by a series of upheavals for justice for multiple marginalized groups – black people, women, gay people, transgender people. The task of each era is not only to choose the struggle, but also to decide how to fight it.

Our current crisis of division has again manifested itself in violent form, shocking but not sudden; a fear that has been deepening for years, a defining feature of this century, that began with an election that ended in a tie. As our information streams saturate with acid, it corrodes grace and trust. Americans have always disagreed, applying reason and passion to advance visions of progress and the common good that we do not necessarily share. Do we care more about freedom or equality? Privacy or security? Being a world leader or staying safe at home, buffered by the ocean? Figuring this out is at the heart of democracy’s challenge, but the information technology that was supposedly designed to connect the world has conspired to destroy the values ​​on which that process depends.

Tragedy, but perhaps also opportunity. this What’s most noteworthy right now is that, in contrast to past squabbles, Americans are largely united on key issues — even if you’d never know it from the intensity of the debate. Red states from Arkansas to Missouri to Florida passed minimum wage referendums in overwhelming majorities; Kansas voted against Protecting Access Two-thirds of Democrats agree that the situation at the border is a problem; more than 60% think it is too easy to get guns, and about 80% are concerned about the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

Finally, four in five told Georgetown University pollsters that they were concerned about threats to democracy. Ipsos poll The survey of 2024 voters found that while the economy, immigration, crime and climate ranked high among issues people care about, “political extremism or threats to democracy” topped the list.

But it is here that common goals collide with interests and power. People are deeply divided over the sources of threats to democracy, and voters on the left and right see the other as uniquely dangerous in history—immoral, dishonest, and closed-minded. In this dark vision, gaining and keeping power, and preventing the opposition from gaining power, is more important than any single issue.

Now Assassinating Donald Trumphis most unrelenting allies immediately saw it as the culmination of a Democratic campaign to stop him at all costs. Rather than stopping reckless speculation, ignorance about the shooter or his motives fueled it. “Sure, they tried to stop him from the election, they tried to put him in jail, and now you see this…,” campaign manager Chris LaCiveta wrote on Twitter, then deleted the tweet. “The core premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Trump supporters wrote Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance“These remarks led directly to the assassination attempt on President Trump.” Natural Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene further stated: “The Democrats are completely evil. Yesterday they tried to murder President Trump.”

read more: What we know and don’t know about the Trump rally shooter

You could call it rigging the referees, trying to preemptively silence criticism and hypocrisy, as these parties threaten their opponents while scoffing at violence against them. But because X is a seedy place, some Democrats have also fallen into the frenzy of Blue Anonymous: “The last thing America needs is sympathy for the devil, but here we are,” Colorado Rep. Steven Woodrow wrote in a later-deleted tweet. Even as people from across the spectrum called for calm, prayer, objectivity, and peace, the furor channeled by the platforms’ unethical algorithms ensured that toxic rumors would infect a million minds. It was all #staged; the Secret Service was complicit; it was a false flag operation, just the latest in a dark quest to ensure Trump’s reelection by any means necessary.

according to According to a Pew Research Center survey, 80% of Americans believe that the facts people get are determined by where they get their news. This almost guarantees that crises and conspiracies will emerge in droves. We witness shootings but don’t know what we are seeing, so faced with new facts, we rely on familiar frameworks. Those who already distrust the media, the deep state, or law enforcement see in the drama at Butler, Pennsylvania, a confirmation of their deepest suspicions. Kate Starbird, a professor at the University of Washington, explains that acts of “collective construction” are how people interpret events in shared social activities—and how partisan actors twist them to suit their agendas. The target of the attack himself seized the moment: “Don’t be afraid. I am Donald Trump, and I will make America great again,” the fundraising appeal read.

But it’s also a possible path to a safer, higher place. Our rhetoric amplifies the most radical voices and alienates everyone else. In fact, news avoidance is at an all-time high, not just in the U.S. but in other deeply polarized countries as people want nothing to do with the vitriol they associate with political engagement. According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of adult social media users say they rarely or never post about politics or social issues. So we’re left looking into a funhouse mirror as misconceptions about actual beliefs further distance us. Nonprofit Start with us Nine in 10 Americans agree on core principles that government be accountable to the people, respect and empathize with diverse groups, and apply the rule of law fairly to all, but only about a third of Democrats and Republicans think the other side cares about those values.

Social media companies must be held accountable for the harm they cause, the addictive behaviors they foster, and the lies they promote by tearing down trust and safety teams when they are needed most. This is not a call for censorship; no amount of content moderation can police a billion users’ posts in real time. But like other forms of media, they should be held accountable for the content they intentionally choose to amplify and monetize.

Each of us is a free understander. We can seek out reliable sources, ones that try to find the truth and hold people accountable when they fail — or we can choose to wallow in the comfort of confirmation. Even as overall trust in the media hits an all-time low, people tend to trust their news sources. So I urge my students to choose their media diet consciously; omnivorous curiosity is a civic duty. Watch TV channels you normally avoid, read writers you disagree with, seek out viewpoints you instinctively reject. The goal isn’t to change your mind; it’s to broaden your horizons. “Understanding is a two-way street,” Eleanor Roosevelt observed, and when we fail to see and hear the truth about our fellow citizens, we stand little chance of appreciating all the common ground we actually have, even now.