Political Culture

Our American Political culture is conflictual.  As Brooks’ describes in his essay, there are many ways to differentiate Blue from Red America.  The different lifestyles evident between these separate peoples lead to many disagreements politically.  This became very clear to most after the Gore Bush election.  As it was seen that the election came so close to a tie, our country began to realize just how divided we are.  While we can be depicted as very divided just between Red and Blue states, I don’t think this is the most accurate way to describe our conflictual state of being.  We are not just divided in this one way, we are divided in many other ways as Frank describes.  He uses an example of our nation being split even further into separate categories such as the ones you would find in a high school cafeteria. I think this helps give a more accurate depiction of what America is like today.  We are split into two main groups with conflicting ideas, and they are Red and Blue states.  But even more specifically, there are subgroups within these main two that divide our country even further. Brooks’ Essay does a poor job to acknowledge this which is why Frank gives a more accurate depiction of America.  Overall, America is conflictual, but in more ways than most think.  The famous picture of our country created shortly after the Bush election (pictured below) is not the only way people should realize America is conflictual. You have to acknowledge the fact that there are numerous other types of people with different views, who don’t fall directly into either Blue, or Red America.  This fact is why America is so much more conflictual than it is described in Brooks’ essay.