Chapter 8. Bridging the Divide In recent years, it has often been said that the Western political landscape is sharply divided and polarized, and that this is unhealthy for our democracy. However, this trend has actually been happening for quite a while. Even when I was in college, there was plenty of divisiveness and tribalism. People were divided on the post9/11 'war on terror', the Iraq War, and gay rights. This coincided with an increasingly sharp divide between those who were religious and 'traditional', versus those who were secular and 'progressive'. In turn, this often coincided with the places people lived in, rural vs urban, as well as geographical divides, particularly in North America. The 2004 US elections demonstrated these faultlines clearly, and there was commentary and debate across the Western world on division and polarization in the months following. As I said, none of this is new at all.
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