The hopeful thing about our ugly, painful polarization

The Hopeful Thing About Our Ugly, Painful Polarization

An artist’s drawing of the American body politic in 2016 might picture furrowed brow, hand-wringing, hunched shoulders. Anxiety abounds, when not overridden by anger. Our extreme polarization is political, economic, social—but individuals feel it on a personal level. Small wonder if we seek relief in the hope that the social fracturing might be healed by one candidate or another.

Certainly, polarization in the U.S. pre-dates the Donald Trump candidacy.