Last Thursday, on October 19, the Diversity Office of Sinclair gathered students and faculty alike in room 7-006 to sit down and discuss why America is currently considered a nation that is drifting apart.
Before any talking could begin, Chief Diversity Officer, Michael Carter, screened an interview that took place last year with Scott Galloway at MSNBC. Galloway is a clinical professor and writer of the titular book “Adrift: America in 100 Charts.”
During his interview, Galloway brought up the points that he goes over in his book, exemplifying how over the years, the United States became more and more divided. What once was a more tolerant and mingled society is now individualistic and isolated.
Examples that perfectly illustrate this isolation are brought up aplenty. One of the graphics shows how in the past 60 years, the percentage of people who were opposed to their kids marrying someone from an opposing political party grew from 4% regarding both parties to 45% and 35% from democrats and republicans, respectively.
Besides the social aspects, the economy is also suffering with polarization. With the increase in prices everywhere, it has been harder and harder for the middle class to keep up with the status quo. This leads to an unbalance on the wealth distribution and a subsequent decline in the standard of living of the average American.
After the short video, people in the audience got together to discuss their thoughts on the matter. “The real fear doesn’t scare us; the fake fear is what does” was Michael Carter’s opening line. The conversation followed the flow of understanding how much of this division comes from fearmongering, and how the increase in social medias and fake news have been a leading cause in separating the nation.
In the end, people expressed their opinions as to how such a situation could be eradicated. Carter believes that the elimination of the electoral college is a way of unifying people; by abolishing the idea that a minority will be responsible for making huge decisions, republicans and democrats will have to work alike. What can bring a nation together is the incentive for cooperation.
Jay Mazega, Staff Writer