Why do Americans hate each other while Canadians love each other? Robert Reich

[justaprogressive]

*snip*

Some thirty years ago, my dear friend, the late Republican Senator Alan Simpson, told me Democrats viewed Republicans as stupid and Republicans viewed Democrats as evil. “I’d rather be in the stupid party,” he chuckled.

I asked him why Republicans saw Democrats as evil.

He took a deep breath. “Religion.”

I said I didn’t understand.

“It’s the Christian right,” he said as if talking to a five-year-old. “Since Reagan, my party has been a magnet for religious conservatives and Christian fundamentalists, where it’s all about good and evil. Too bad, pal. You’re on the evil side.”

That was thirty years ago. Since then, the divide has only sharpened.

In 2012, Mitt Romney told supporters that “47 percent” of Americans would vote for Obama no matter what because they’re “dependent upon government ... believe that they are victims ... believe the government has a responsibility to care for them ... [and] pay no income tax.”

Insulting 47 percent of Americans was no way to win an election. It was also no way to unite the country.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-do-americans-dislike-other-americans]

[Irish_Dem]

1. The US has a different value system from Canada.

We like hatred, violence, chaos.

It is a deliberate choice.

[leftstreet]

2. Because the US doesn't have a parliamentary system

Red/blue, either/or, us/them

[displacedvermoter]

3. Alan Simpson was a dick, Robert Reich

Another of our problems, even our greatest advocates for social justice get all wobbly about their "dear friends" who are opponents of all the good they are striving for.

Simpson - Bowles, remember that anyone?
Remember Simpson decrying seniors whose only concern was "cashing their Social Security checks so they could go to Ponderosa"? Remember Alan Simpson's scamming the taxpayers through his shady farm subsidies?

[Midnight Writer]

4. In America, competition is considered holy. In Canada, cooperation is valued.

[Ishoutandscream2]

5. Religion IS the number one reason

Or at least, what Bartcop called it, “religious insanity”.

[multigraincracker]

6. We live in an Authoritarian nation.

With way too many Authorities.
Local government, state governments, federal government and don’t get me started on Western Religions leaders.