President Obama has never been shy in praising Abraham Lincoln. He has declared him his favorite president, quotes him regularly in speeches, and even published a hand written essay last year about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. This admiration seems fitting with all of the similarities they share: both were lawmakers in Illinois, both took office at a time of national crisis, and even their bodies are similarly framed. In his acceptance speech back in 2008, Obama said: “As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, ‘We are not enemies but friends...though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.’”
Optimism was abundant back in 2008, when our nation came together to elect the first black president. We were divided, sure, but as Obama said, far less divided than in Lincoln’s time, or, for that matter, what has become Obama’s time. Yes, another uncanny similarity between President Obama and President Lincoln is how seemingly divided a nation they have both presided over. We may not be in a Civil War, but it sure does feel that way sometimes.
Americans are increasingly pessimistic about getting anything done in Washington, and a Pew Poll released earlier this week revealed that 81 percent of people think we are more divided today than we were in the past, compared to just 46 percent when Obama came into office six years ago. Obviously the do-nothing congress has created a very cynical populace, and with the Republican dominated congress coming to town, it is likely to get worse.
Naturally, there has always been a political divide, and there always will be; that is what living in a democracy is all about. But democracy is also about compromise, and in recent years, the word compromise has been removed from Washington’s lexicon. Our division has become debilitating like a terminal disease, and racism and radicalism are the leading factors in this illness, spreading through various appendages like a quickly metastasizing cancer and destroying the country from within.
The Racial Divide
During Lincoln’s time, racism and slavery were clear dividing issues. Today, with a black man in office, racism, or racial bias, has returned to our political world, or simply become more visible. As Obama said last week, racism is “deeply rooted in our society, (and) deeply rooted in our history.” The recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City have broadcasted the bigotry that remains embedded in our justice system. Even in a progressive city like New York, racial profiling
objectively exists, and protests around the city are demanding change. United States prisons provide the clearest statistic of racial division, with the majority of prisoners being black males, even though they are a small minority of the population. This in itself shows the systemic racial divide that exists in the American justice system.
While racism in the justice realm has become an increasingly pertinent issue, overall racism, which has no doubt influenced opinions of our Chief Executive, remains stunningly relevant. The General Social Survey, a poll that has been conducted since 1972, has documented the decreasing amount of racism over the years, but some of the statistics show a surprisingly high degree that remains. For example, as of 2008, 28 percent of white people say a homeowner shouldn’t have to sell their house to a black person, 25 percent of white people would not be happy if a family member married a black person, and 42 percent of white people say they are more hardworking than black people. So, of course some of these white people would have a problem with a black man leading them.
This shows that blatant racism still exists, though it has decreased in recent decades. But even more widespread is subconscious racial bias, which may shape a persons views without any real awareness. Studies show that racial biases are very sneaky and can hide behind ones better judgement. Even if someone is consciously against any sort of prejudice, their subconscious may contain biases that are difficult to detect or change. Without even realizing it, many people may criticize a black person, like Obama, more harshly than if he or she were white. All of the petty ad hominem attacks we have seen throughout his presidency affirms this.
“He was born in Kenya!” “He’s a Muslim!” “Affirmative Action got him through college!” These are all, whether Obama critics care to admit it or not, racially fueled attacks that have been unique to the current President. Assuming that a black man could not have gotten through Harvard without Affirmative Action or that he is Muslim because of his skin color is racist, which is unfortunately still quite prevalent in politics today.
The Radical Divide
Fortunately, not all people are susceptible to these petty racial attacks. A great deal of it simply has to do with different political ideology, which in itself is nothing new. Ever since Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton faced off in George Washington’s cabinet, there has been constant disagreement on the purpose of our government. Hamilton believed in a strong centralized government that played an important role in the economy, while Jefferson despised Hamilton and the centralized government he had formed under Washington. This battle of decentralized versus centralized government, though far more complex today, has gone on since then. Indeed, state versus federal power was another major division during Lincoln’s time.
Today, as in other epochs, this fundamental disagreement of the governments purpose has become increasingly volatile. Radicalization of the right wing has played an important role in increasing this divide. The Tea Party and Libertarian movements, led by talking heads like Glenn Beck and funded by billionaire oilmen like the Koch Brothers, have infected the national conversation and mood like a bacterial virus eating away at the delicate solidarity we once had. What makes this radical philosophy so dangerous is its attractiveness. Like Communism, Libertarianism is a very enticing ideology on paper, providing more responsibility to the people and getting the bureaucratic government out of our lives. This individualism makes it particularly attractive to many young people, who seem to be easily accessible to free market indoctrination.
Right wing radicals associated with the Tea Party and Libertarian movement have contributed to making the 113th Congress one of the worst in history. And now, it is set to become even more radical. People like Barbara Comstock, a former Koch Brothers lobbyist, and Tom Emmer, who believes the minimum wage is too high, are heading to congress to push our political system further to the right. The current front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential candidate is none other than Rand Paul, second only to his father, Ron Paul, in the libertarian movement. He has attracted many young people with his progressive social ideas, like drug legalization and ending American imperialism. But the real cornerstone of his philosophy is an almost religious faith in the free market, which people seem to care less about than his social views. The popularity of this movement has pushed much of the Republican party back to the laissez faire philosophy of the nineteenth century, which would have been unthinkable before this radicalized faction.
By embracing an ideology that believes in unrestrained capitalism and self regulation, much of the right wing has all but given up the ideals of social welfare and business regulation that formed the middle class during the twentieth century. This shift, that forced the GOP establishment to become radicalized itself, has convinced many people in this country that President Obama and Democrats are some kind of left wing radicals, though in reality, they are quite centrist.
Racism and/or radicalism have conquered countless American minds, and the people elect their politicians accordingly. Playing to many unfortunate emotions that have always existed in this country’s ethos, the right wings shift is a predictable reaction to a President like Obama. As in Lincoln’s time, fundamental disagreements create almost no room for compromise, which has been reflected on the departing congress. This combination of racism and radicalism has created such narrow-mindedness that anything Obama might endorse is automatically denounced, even if it was a right wing idea to begin with, like the ACA’s individual mandate.
The Republicans have become the no-compromise party through this myopic transformation, a sort of last ditch attempt to save the GOP by embracing all of the disgusting and irrational emotions that this country spent the last century ridding itself of. And it seems to be working.
The current economic divide that we see between the one percent and the rest of the people is directly related to this political divide. One would think, then, that the 99 percent would come together to fight for their equal share. Fortunately for the one percent, the people are completely divided by social issues and ideology. Racism and xenophobia keep many poor and middle class folks against Obama and the immigrant embracing left, while free market dogma convinces others to embrace pro wealthy reform like deregulation and lower taxes.
Unless both racism and radicalism are quickly eradicated, it seems our democracy will slowly decay into a sort of plutocratic deformity, not only dividing us politically, but also dividing us further into a nation of haves and have-nots, with the middle class nothing more than a faded memory.