American culture is built on division. Left vs. Right, Coke vs. Pepsi, Ohio State vs. flag-planting Michigan, Classico vs. Rao’s, Red Sox vs. Yankees. Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift.
Maybe you’re tired of it, but you can’t get rid of division. Donald Trump has said, “The discord and division in our society must be healed.” Good luck with that. Then again, Joe Biden said we have to choose “between unity and division.” It never happened because it isn’t in any politician’s interest to heal divides. So we get “the vast right-wing conspiracy” and “own the libs.” Division is here to stay. The rest of us need to learn how to deal with it. The Biden years encouraged division by identity for the pursuit of power. It ended up costing Democrats the election. The Trump 2.0 years will probably be about division by nativism—we were here first. Or we made stuff here first. Yes, “decentering whiteness” vs. tariffs. Voters chose. Hey, you can’t have it all. Sadly, anxiety often wins out.
Former comedian Ellen DeGeneres, perhaps stressed by Trump trauma, moved to London. Cheerio. Others have reportedly threatened, in her designed-in-California iPhone. Plus, sprinkled throughout her dialogue were familiar expressions: “Bada boom.” including America Ferrera, Sharon Stone, Cher and Sophie Turner (isn’t she British?). Fine, they can read daily New York Times tantrums on their iPads from Saskatchewan. I hear it’s nice this time of year. Others have retreated to comfortable echo chambers. Former Elon Musk fanboys— now haters—have debarked for Bluesky, a Twitter alternative, which almost advertises in its name: No red rhetoric here. Some simply unplug.
CNN and MSNBC audiences are plummeting. Many will play Wordle for four years. But it’s better if everyone stays engaged. Despite, or maybe because of, our differences, America is still the greatest country and pulling away. We’re so free we can argue about our differences without the threat of being arrested. Our envious stock market has left the rest of the world in the dust. China seems to be languishing. In the European outdoor museum, few work. They sit at cafes and caffeinate all day. The U.S. sets the tone for the rest of the world. Not only by paying for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United Nations but culturally. Even spiritually. On a visit to Kraków, Poland, my wife and I used the very American Airbnb to book a food tour. Highly recommend. Our guide was an engaging and overcaffeinated 20-something who couldn’t let go of “What were you thinking?” “Could I be any more hungry?” It took a few minutes before I realized her words and mannerisms were straight from the American TV show “Friends.” It’s the new “Sesame Street” for learning English. dd
When disagreeing, learn to move on from the argument and think ‘let them.’ Yes, the world devours our culture and incorporates it into their own. Same for the internet. Detractors like to call this “digital colonialism.” (Of course they do— anything to have America as an oppressor.) But no one forced our guide to speak “Friends.” This country is strong precisely because we don’t all think the same way. New ideas come from new ways of thinking. When you vote, you get some of what you want but not everything. Life is about compromises. The extremes of the left and right make the most noise, but we’re still governed from the center. Our political divisions today might seem like the Grand Canyon, but pre-1989 Berlin was about real and quite literal divides. Ours are wafer thin in comparison. For those who don’t like Donald Trump: Get over it. Stop threatening to leave.
Many didn’t like the Obama years. I cringed with every utterance of the socialist concept of equity during the Biden years. People dealt and moved on. You can too. Think of saying to yourself, “Let it be.” Yes, words of wisdom. Or as billion-view podcaster Mel Robbins suggests, say “Let them.” She describes it as a “life-changing mindset hack.” Hey, who doesn’t want that? I watched (briefly), and her theory is best summed as “stop trying to force other people to do what you want them to do, and so much more peace will come into your life.” Peace out.
When disagreeing, the impulse is to say something else besides “let” before “them.” But as long as you’re not threatened, not competing on a woman’s swim team or being told what to do, let them talk. Let them use up their hot air. Let them wallow in their own BS. If you’re right (of course you are) it will only take time for your brilliance to be exposed. Then you always have the age-old “Toldja!” in your back pocket. You’ll be itching to use it, but don’t. It’s less divisive and way more effective if left unspoken. NniSiroqyArrvZvRK6Ne-WSJNewsPaper-12-23-2024.pdf Write to kessler@wsj.com
My Opinion: It’s the venom and hate that’s the problem…just tired of it!
