I don’t think “divided” is the right word to talk about the country. At best, it’s a deflection of accountability — a way to blame the state of things not on root ills and those who perpetuate them, but on everyday people for not “talking to each other” enough or something.

The majority of Americans want life to be better here. As best I can tell from available polls, 2/3 want a $15 minimum wage. Almost 2/3 want higher taxes on the ultra wealthy. 63% want tuition-free public college. 55% want Medicare for All. 54% want guaranteed income.

This isn’t to say there aren’t genuine wedges that are exploited to destructive effect — obviously there are, as recent news bears out — but the key story here is WHO keeps the above things from happening and WHY. “Division” is less so the issue here than manipulation.

What’s tricky is that the “division” feels so palpable and urgent. Like everybody else, I’ve watched some of my own family these past few years go down various conspiratorial rabbit holes that lead them to live in different realities, not just politically but epistemologically.

But me calling up my cousin to have a chat about vaccine safety won’t do much. The nation “healing” around the dinner table is a fantasy, at least at the macro level. People need the kind of baseline quality of life that can reduce alienation, not a bread breaking lesson.