Great Dividers

Why we're so divided:

Religion, race, social class—none of that matters so much as political identity. And, according to the Political Psychology study, "out-group animosity is stronger than in-group sentiment," meaning anger at perceived enemies is the driving factor in how we express our partisan affiliations. That anger can only increase when government officials use their position to torment those across the political divide. As it is, after years of a metastasizing state, Americans must go hat-in-hand to officialdom to request permission to take licensed jobs, renovate homes, open businesses, and so much more. That creates vulnerabilities among people who live their lives at the pleasure of an overpowerful government and the creatures who control its instruments. Without explicitly exercising censorship or invoking the apparatus of authoritarianism, it's all too easy for bureaucrats, prosecutors, and regulators to hurt those they don't like. Democrats and the Biden administration infamously leaned on social media companies to muzzle critics, engaged in obviously politicized prosecutions of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, and applied regulatory pressure on banks to deny financial services to opponents.

The people always lose when the government protects its power...