Conflictual or Consensual America?

         Very often, Americans find themselves surrounded by or involved in some sort of conflict. 

Whether it's about who's answer is right on the math question or whether your a conservative or liberal, conflict is around us all of the time. America is divided now more than ever before. In many instances the route of conflict is based on different political ideologies, which form political cultures. People with certain beliefs often clash with people with opposing beliefs.  This action is constant, and divides America more and more. This division can make it hard for political leaders to make decisions that satisfy everyone's needs, which often times erupts in more conflict.

         A lot of conflict that we hear about occurs between conservatives and liberals. This may be because each sides has a certain stereotype for the other side, and often times these assumptions are quite harsh. In the article "One Nation, Slightly Divisible," written by David Brooks, it reveals the stereotype of a conservative told by Brooks, a liberal. He mentions that conservatives are racist and homophobic, and often are overweight and wear clothing too tight. This may offend many conservatives and come across as completely absurd. Alone, just reading this article may begin conflict. A lot of issues also begin with the fact that liberals and conservatives many times agree with the completely opposite view of certain things, which is represented in the cartoon below. 

          Conflict is also represented within the Crossfire videos. Multiple governor's of various states (both democratic and republican) are confronted with certain issues that may occur within their states. Most of the time they try to hide the own issues within their state by bringing other states into the conversation and addressing their flaws. For example, the governor of Illinois was discussing minimum wage and mentioned to the governor of Texas that he should raise their minimum wage other than discussing his own polices. This is another example of conflict, and it shows that conflict can exist between everyone, even if they have a lot in common.