In recent years, numerous people have remarked how our country is more divided than it has been since the Civil War.
While that is a strong statement, it very well may be true.
Our country has certainly had its share of times when citizens were divided. The Vietnam War is a good example.
The era of the Civil Rights movement was certainly another chapter in our country, which saw citizens committing violence against other citizens.
Fortunately, there have been times when our country was united together behind a cause as well as our leaders. World War II is probably the best case of that, as there was a legitimate fear of how our country and our world would end up if Hitler was not stopped.
The months that followed 9-11 is another example of how our country can be united. It’s unfortunate that it takes such a tragedy for that to happen, though.
During the early 1960s, the Cuban Missile Crisis saw Americans stand behind our leaders and military.
From a strictly political standpoint, it seems the lines in the sand are clearly drawn in 2025 and have been for some time.
Some of it originates with whoever currently resides in the White House. It seems you are either 100 percent for him or 100 percent against him. Only a handful of people show signs of being able to give credit to a president while also disagreeing with some of his actions.
It is unclear when it became necessary to support a president and his actions 100 percent of the time.
One of the great things about our country is the fact that we are able to disagree with what our elected officials do, including the president.
In this country, if we are not satisfied with our politicians, be it at the national, state or local level, we do have options. We are able to voice our opinions or support another candidate in the next election or even run for office if we desire.
No elected official, including our president, is perfect. To pretend that he is perfect only highlights that divide in our country.
It is not, as some suggest, un-American to disagree with the president. Likewise, it shows a lack of common sense not to be able to admit that a president, even if we didn’t vote for him, never does anything which benefits our country.
At the core, all people who run for office do so to try and make things better. They want to improve on our system, which certainly is not perfect at times.
Yet elected officials, even at the local level, often fall into the political divide. As a lifelong resident of Georgia, it is not uncommon to hear some make derogatory remarks about people who live in other parts of the country.
From my way of thinking, we only hurt ourselves when we become so divided. Some even go as far as saying certain states should no longer be part of our country. Some have even suggested at times wanting their state to secede when a president is not to their liking.
Both of these lines of thought are, quite frankly, dumb. Part of what makes our country so strong is its diversity. We have such an enormous cross-section of people and ideas and that aspect is why so many who don’t live here would like to.
I have good friends with different political beliefs than myself. I think no less of them, and I would like to think they don’t see me as less of a person because we may disagree. One friend even told me that we agree on a lot more than we disagree on.
“Yet we always seem to focus on what we disagree on,” my friend has said, laughing at it.
That is true, but fortunately for us, it does not cause us to fight or lose our friendship.
Even when we are at our most united as a country, there will still be some disagreement. That happens between family, and it is fine. However, it does not have to develop into a hatred for our fellow countrymen.
Our country’s strength lies in the fact that we all are able to live our lives (for the most part) as we want. That’s a great way to live.
It also means we have to tolerate opinions we may not like. But how boring would things be if we all agreed on every single issue?
We should always remember that politicians are human and they certainly do not walk on water. It’s OK to disagree with them but it is also OK to give credit when credit is due.
By being able to recognize these facts, we once again show why this country is the best in the world.
Chris Bridges is the managing editor of The Walton Tribune. Email comments to chris.bridges@waltontribune.com.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
