If we let go of the dogmatic principles of Liberalism and Conservatism, we can consider some real-politique aspects of the state of America. Is it possible that...
The increased agalitarianism of US culture that has admitted women, blacks, gays, Latinos and others into the mainstream has led to:
1. increasing the size of the base of the pyramid making the top higher, hence a bigger divide between rich and poor
2. increase in meritocracy as the medium of competition, hence greater disadvantage for those who do not do well in the school system
3. relative decline for white, straight, males, especially working class and less educated, leading to a backlash
There is a thesis that in order to build a nation one needs both an 'internal enemy' and an 'external enemy'. America has always been rather good at finding external enemies - the nation is organised for war on a scale unparallelled by any other country on earth. However, serious efforts have been made in recent decades to eliminate any sense of internal enmity. Many people think this is an unmitigatedly good thing and from the point of view of an ideal of harmony it is, but, like all ideals, it has a shadow and unintended consequences. The absence of an identified internal enemy is creating a majot crisis. Bitterness eliminated in one sphere has displaced itself into other ones. Three possible scenarios can be envisaged:
i. A new internal enemy is identified (Moslem Americans already seem to be falling into this category but there are not enough of them for them to perform the scapegoat role sufficiently for the nation as a whole).
ii. The nation is pulled together by a more major external conflict (Current tensions with Russia and China are thus more dangerous than they have been for some times).
iii. American turns inward and goes through a period of isolationism and internal 'civil war' that impedes its ability to funtion in the wider international sphere (Hence the noticeable embitterment of relations between Democrats and Republicans and the extremity of 'negativity' in the current election campaign).
The election offers a dramatisation of all these themes. The likely outcome of the election is a female, Latino/Black/gay-supported president who is strongly identified with all the trends that have produced the current crisis. Clearly the election is not going to be the end of the matter.
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