https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/american-civil-war-the-causes/id1537788786?i=1000567780922 + the rest of that series https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/civil-war/id1537788786?i=1000496889242
Frightening parallel between the American Civil War and America today: you are at a time when all issues divide (almost) evenly on partisan lines.
This leads to a host of problems.
- Because both parties divide evenly across the spectrum, there’s little room for compromise on any subject, which makes both parties hate each other even more and increases the echo chamber in each party.
- With an echo chamber and such a toxic atmosphere comes different realities and models of the world built on different (and often incompatible) fundamental “truths”
- Ditto all of #1 but for everyday people as well
- Comes to a point when the “other side” is your enemy, and them winning the election threatens everything you care about (because it kind of does when both parties are so separated)
Interesting: Because the histories of civil wars are generally so intense, the stories are often re-written later on (and even during the war).