America the Polarized? No, We Mostly Agree

Idea of 'polarized' nation exaggerated by media: Nick Gillespie
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 7, 2014 1:21 PM CST
America the Polarized? No, We Mostly Agree
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Conventional wisdom has it that America is more polarized in terms of politics and culture than at any point in history. "Not so fast," writes Nick Gillespie at Time. It may seem that way because of the talking heads on cable news and the fringe politicians who love to make headlines, but a closer look at the views of actual Americans tells a different story. He ticks off a list of issues such as pot legalization, attitudes toward homosexuality, and abortion (only 20% think it should be legal in all circumstances, which is pretty much unchanged over decades) and finds a majority of Americans in sync on them.

Of course, gray areas and rooms for disagreement exist in those and other issues. "But with so many pressing problems confronting Washington, acknowledging that more unites us than divides us might be a smart way to create a future that doesn’t revolve hermeneutic readings of the theological implications of reality TV stars or actively ignoring what large majorities of Americans actually believe," writes Gillespie. Click to read his full column. (More Americans stories.)

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