Divided We Fall: How Two Americas Are Destroying Democracy

Remember when this was the nation's de facto motto?

E pluribus unum. "Out of many we are one."

Now it's about how divided we are. How factions of society don't believe in universal equality. Partisan groups threaten each other in state and federal government with bodily harm.

Religion, always a controversial subject, has been weaponized with the rise of so-called Nationalist Christians. They're goals are simple and cruel.

Christian nationalist agitators are calling for only one religion to be celebrated in America. Christianity. The rest of the religions are being relegated to imposters who seek God in the wrong places.

Broken down to the simplest terms, we are now living in two Americas where everything from belief systems to human equality are in question.

We are now in Defcon 2. One step away from total anarchy. Political road blocks are springing up throughout the country. A sure sign of the stagnancy which has settled into the states and federal government.

The idea of a unified nation has been cast to the winds of chaos as America stumbles through a never-ending pandemic and the battle between two tribes - with one perfectly willing to destroy the other in the name of hateful ideologies.

I've heard and read political pundits who already believe we are engaged in another Civil War. 

How did we get here? Where did we go wrong? How is it a large segment of Americans don't believe in reality and science?

Part of the problem has been the "dumbing down" of American education in the last couple of decades. Ignorance can lead to hatred of things people don't understand.

A big factor is the rise of the Trump cult. Americans never experienced a more corrupt president, and were caught off guard by his cruelty and stupidity.

Embraced by the worst segments of our society, Trump tore down all the norms in our life and government. That the former president is still trying to steal the 2020 election - a year later - shows how dire things are right now.

How can we turn the tide?

The only thing I can see, in the short term, is for the Democrats to hold onto the House and Senate in next year's midterms.

Short of that, I predict we're going to keep on going down the rabbit hole until democracy is dead.