What would it take to unite the U.S. citizenry?

An attack on American soil by a foreign element that we can all rally around being our "enemy."

 

Yeah, short of a “forced on us” type of war, pretty much nothing in today’s world.

 

That’s a great question. I can only of being attacked, but I also have visions of one side blaming the other for it.

 

That is already happening

 

I would suggest that a good starting point would be to cease repeating false right-wing narratives such as that the media "disinforms." Unless it is specifically referencing right-wing fake media.

 

Interesting. By who?

 

Jo is the reason there may be no answer to gatordavisl’s question!

He can’t even set aside politics on a thread about setting aside politics.

 

I get that but for an honest debate. There has to be an agreement on the facts. The complete nonsense that people on both sides are consuming isn’t good for the country.

 

I really don't like that option because we are probably closer to that happening today than since 9/11. Some 300 ISIS terrorists are presumed to be inside the US right now.

 

I would hope that something as tragic as an attack on American soil wouldl do it.

I will be honest and say that that might be the only thing. It’s sad, but with the state of news and information, there is very little trust from either side. The professional news “media” long ago abandoned objectivity and professionalism. That void has been filled by millions of yahoos who make a podcast or spew bullshit on social media to communicate their nonsense. I would be very happy if the general public would simply stop watching, listening too, or reading opinion media of any kind. People need to learn how to and to start thinking for themselves again.

One can only pray.

 

If I had seen this before I made my above post then it would have been a reply. Absolutely agree.

 

Oh no - now you've made me feel bad. Ya see, I ALWAYS so value the opinion of supporters of a criminal organization, whose mission is to support, well, a criminal.


That said, obviously all media are not the same. Fox, OANN and Infowars, just to cite a few, have all varyingly been forced to make large settlements, or are about to be forced into bankruptcy. For spreading lies.

So comparing these lie factories to legitimate media is inaccurate. It is just a portion of the strategy that the criminals YOU support, Aging : drag everyone and everything down into the sewer of dishonesty and criminality that is exemplified by Trump and the current GOP......and then everyone will be on an equal playing field.

Well.....no. Sorry, but no. YOU descend down into that sewer if you choose. The rest of us are above it. And much or most of the media is above it. The media doesn't, as a whole, "misinform" people. And most good people wouldn't tolerate it if they did.

That's for the supporters of criminality. So enjoy doing so, sir.

 

Thanks for the great thread topic, Davis. I’ve put a lot of thought into this question, and I’ll echo many of the sentiments here: group unity is often caused by intergroup conflict. 9/11 definitely did have this effect. Look at the trend of Bush’s approval rating:



You’re right that the effect faded out, but a longer term threat would have likely prolonged it. Regardless, even a brief presidential approval rating of 90% in modern times is an amazing result. This is a real demonstration of unity.

The downside is that this unity at the national level comes precisely at the cost of unity at the next level up. The interesting question is whether there is another way to achieve the same outcome. Regrettably, I’m skeptical that there is for the reasons you give in the OP. Still, a couple of interventions have been shown to move the needle a bit:

1. Personal contact with members of the out group diminishes tribal gaps. E.g. After the US recruited black people to fight in the battle of the bulge, southern white soldiers showed a more favorable outlook on black people.
   
2. Dehumanizing rhetoric widens tribal gaps. This might sound obvious, but some studies have shown that the best predictor of dehumanization was the perception that people believed that they were the one being dehumanized. I think we can see an example with the staying power of Hilary’s “basket of deplorables” comment.

The recommendations are therefore to try to actually personally interact with those people on the other side and not to make negative comments about “them”. As jo demonstrates above, this is difficult because it definitely feels like they deserve it, but I believe that we should move our focus from desert to improvement. I like the analogy of a person asking themselves, “Am I winning my marriage?” I don’t know, but I do know how long that marriage will last.

 

I am not sure that is even true. If Russia attacked US soil in California or Massachusetts, they would likely be welcomed as "liberators" by Republicans. Quite an irony since they routinely call the Democrats socialists and communists.

 

The citizenry might unite from an existential threat of AI / job loss and economic collapse. The question is how resilient and in what timeline will capitalism resolve economic disparity.

 

Some things are worth standing on the right side of history. Fighting for the end of slavery, while causing a civil war, was worth it to end it. Eventually we became united. Same thing for civil rights or fighting against Nazi Germany with our allies. Lately the GOP has been waging a war against democracy and for absolute control, by surrogacy with dehumanizing and inflammatory rhetoric against LGBTQ people, reproductive health and rights, diversity and public education, science, immigrants, the media, and amplified to extreme by Limbaugh and passed on to Trump. Making outlandish statements gives them more media coverage. Republicans need to return to the idea that in a democracy, compromise is valuable to unite against our common problems rather than seek absolute control, as Alito recently spilled about winning.

 

So, the conclusion as to what could unite Americans is uniting against Trump and the roughly half of Americans who are United behind him.

 

EMP attack that takes out all internet, forcing everyone to unite, but also not be fed misinformation.

 

A great post.

Personally, I disagree with some though; tribalism in MAGA is a feature, not a bug. Otherism is a substitute for policy. ("They're rapists. They're not like you and me.") Tolerance for criminality is a necessity, a litmus test. Lack of knowledge is more than acceptable - it's almost a badge of honor. (After all, everything in the media is false. Unless you like it or agree with it.)

I, for one, am not willing to "engage" members of this tribe unless they're willing to engage in honest discourse. Which they've shown over and over and over again....they are not. We see it on this board when they simply run away from unappealing facts, only to repeat their falsehoods later.

For me, they could start by renouncing criminality. (I read an article today about Trump pardoning the J6 "hostages." ) Unfortunately, they are clearly not ready to do so. Until then, by me they will be held in the same esteem as criminals and criminal enablers.