The issues with striving for unity

The U.S. today is fragmented in every part of its socioeconomic structure. We have wealth inequality, moral divides, inconsistent education, and more, all of which cause polarization and destabilize our two-party political system.

Political stability is important for maintaining and improving the systems that support the general public. When our political system is destabilized, the government slows or ceases operation. Polarization is also cyclical with disunification. Individuals who find themselves disagreeing with the party that represents them, while having no other choice besides the polar opposite, abstract themselves from the political system.

So how do we deal with issues of unity in the U.S.?

I have identified four major methods that have historically been used to unify a nation: a common enemy, education, influence, and censorship.

A common enemy allows groups to forget differences and work together in alliances and partnerships.

Education refers to controlling institutions or media to direct developing minds to think in a similar nature to others. Examples of this are religious schools, which use education to give someone a grounding in their moral foundation.

Influence refers to the use of sway or leverage to unify a group of people. Examples of this are religion or social media where status is used to convince people to follow a cause.

Most controversially, censorship is the method of removing differences in a community, such that the community’s popular opinion grows and hence becomes more unified. An example of this media censorship, where individuals with extreme or controversial opinions are removed from media platforms.

From a broad view, while none of these methods taken literally are morally appropriate, I ultimately believe that applying a conceptual mix of each of these methods in moderation can unify a group of people without harm. If we want to unify our nation, I believe we should use social media instead of more extreme means. Social media due to its size can exert a large amount of influence and educate people due to its accessibility.

It is essential to be aware of the disunity of our country and the methods to revert it, though they may be unideal.