The Great Divide

Since the attacks of 9/11 American society and opinion have gotten more polarized. Perhaps one reason for that is that serious issues emerged - as opposed to before when our main concerns were whether Bill slept with Monica - and suddenly there was something to actually disagree about and get upset about. Victor Hanson breaks down the split in society and characterizes one as "angry, but also therapeutic", held by the Left, and the other as "somewhat tragic, largely upbeat about our recent accomplishments", held by the Right.

How to adjudicate these two conflicting views of the present situation? We cannot. Why so?

The answer is that our interpretations of the present crisis are predicated on our own larger views of mankind itself. The tragic sense accepts us as flawed and thus expects setback, mistakes, and even moral lapses. The therapeutic view in contrast demands perfection right now and thus allows for few, if any, mistakes. Some of us look to history and thus gauge our present war rather humane at least by the losses of prior conflicts, the mess in rebuilding Japan and Germany, and the audacity of trying to bring consensual government to an autocratic Middle East.

Others trust more in the promises of social science, and thus are ignorant of the horror of past American wars, but fault us daily for our inability to use the proper wisdom or protocol to restore full power, stop all violence, and ensure professional behavior on the part of our soldiers.