One of the great claims for representative democracy and federations is that they provide a uniquely successful way of dynamically negotiating, rather than suppressing, social differences and tensions. So, when it appears to be failing to do that in one of the world’s oldest and most successful democracies it is worth asking “why has this happened”?

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

…

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.”

W B Yeats The Second Coming

 

 And what rough beast slouches toward Washington be born again? (with apologies to Yeats)

Introduction

In Part 1 we charted the rise of pernicious polarisation in the US and noted that it is an extraordinary contrast with other democracies across the world. In Part 2 we showed how this polarisation has developed a geographic dimension pitting state against state and the Federal Government. One of the great claims for representative democracy and federations is that they provide a uniquely successful way of dynamically negotiating, rather than suppressing, social differences and tensions. So, when it appears to be failing to do that in one of the world’s oldest and most successful democracies it is worth asking “why has this happened”

What has caused polarisation?

Different life experiences – income, ethnicity, education

Republican and Democrat districts have shown diverging trends across income, ethnicity and education. There are also differences in the degree of and form of religious affiliation. These divergences have echoed and possibly caused increasing affective polarisation.

The changes in real median household income between Democrat held districts and Republican ones are particularly striking. The actual decline in real household income in the Republican districts would help explain the attractiveness of the Make America Great Again slogan to many. This is echoed more broadly across US society. Inequality in disposable income has increased by more than 20% since 1970, averaged across a range of measures.

What is particularly striking is the increase in income of the top 5-10% of families. “One widely used measure – the 90/10 ratio – takes the ratio of the income needed to rank among the top 10% of earners in the U.S. (the 90th percentile) to the income at the threshold of the bottom 10% of earners (the 10th percentile). In 1980, the 90/10 ratio in the U.S. stood at 9.1, meaning that households at the top had incomes about nine times the incomes of households at the bottom. The ratio increased in every decade since 1980, reaching 12.6 in 2018, an increase of 39%.” (PEW RESEARCH CENTRE Trends in Income and Wealth Inequality January 9 2020). In Australia the picture is remarkably different. The ratio of individual taxable income at the 10th decile ($29,910) to that at the threshold of the top 10% ($131,500) is 4.39.

The gaps in income between upper – income and middle – and lower – income households are rising, and the share held by middle – income households is falling

The changes in income are echoed in the increasing predominance of “knowledge” work in Democrat districts and manufacturing and agriculture in Republican seats. Free trade, a floating exchange rate, decarbonisation of the economy and the strength of US advanced digital technologies and the financial services sector have seen older and simpler manufacturing decline and agriculture placed under increased pressure. Technological change has hollowed out the middle class.

 

READ MORE:

https://johnmenadue.com/political-polarisation-in-the-us-part-3-causes/

 

 

 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0r1c0uleN0

INTERVIEW: ‘America has become what the Soviet Union was!’

 

"INTERVIEW: Former CIA agent and Pentagon insider likens the failing and flailing White House to the last days of the Soviet Union. With the ‘empty shells’ of old men in charge

 

 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5XP07dHdXY

AS WE HAVE MENTIONED MANY TIMES BEFORE, TRUMP IS A CLOWN — A FUNNY CLOWN, A BUFFOON AND OVERALL A SMART GUY WHO SNIFFS OUT THE POLITICAL RUBBISH. AND THIS IS WHY THE ESTABLISHMENT HATES HIM BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BE "NICE" WHILE THE ESTABLISHMENT IS ALL ABOUT WARMONGERING....

 

Tucker Carlson 7/28/23 I will come back | BREAKING NEWS TODAY July 28, 2023

 

AS THE WAR IN UKRAINE IS GOING SOUTH FOR THE WEST, IT'S TIME TO MAKE A DEAL.... AND TRUMP IS THE GUY TO DO IT, WHETHER WE LIKE HIM OR NOT.... THEN WE CAN REVISE OUR OPTICS... IN REGARD TO BECOME MORE HUMAN...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zNSiEmyMuI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZQaadEsEpo

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYvqzybt5Tw

 

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MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:

 

 

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN. (ADD ODESSA TO THE DEAL IF THE WAR CONTINUES)...

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

 

EASY.

 

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

 

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SEE ALSO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnDSGn6lJPI 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOVSUdsdv0M

Gutfeld: Biden, Garland, DOJ's unexpected 'endorsement' of Trump

 

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