Strong, passionately held opinions have frequently divided Americans and the politicians that represent them. The divisions have been cut by fundamental, yes-or-no questions:
should some humans be allowed to hold others as slaves?
Can states secede from the Union?
Should money be coined in silver, easing the deflation that benefits banks and lenders and hurts farmers and borrowers?
Is society responsible for establishing a minimum standard of living for its members, or should it be every man for himself?
Will capital and corporations be brought under social control, or should there be free markets and less regulation?
What’s it to be, less government or more?
These lines of cleavage don’t admit of much compromise, and they’ve propelled Americans into sharp, sometimes violent division more than once in the history of the Republic.
There is now a new line of cleavage emerging, although only one side of the division seems to have recognized and capitalized on the change.
continued at Daily Kos....
