Hypothesis 1. When a nation has no external enemies, that nation’s people will polarize and turn against each other.
Hypothesis 2. That need to polarize is so strong that many of that nation’s people will follow even an unstable former politician.
What say you?
Hyp 1 This is part of human nature and will possibly remain so.
Hyp 2 Polarizing will sustain as long as people feel there know better than the other half. Why not find out together what is the best for both halves by investigating common "human nature". e.g. what drives,excites,satisfies and what a common prioritization would be?
Re Hyp 2. Yes, and one place people can “find out together” is at the United Nations.
@yvilletom AND HERE on this site???
That's an interesting theory. It wouldn't run counter to evolution...
Evidence for Hypothesis 1.
During World War 2, Germany enabled Tito to unite the Yugoslavs. After the War, Yugoslavia’s factions polarized and fought each other.
After the US vs. USSR Cold War, America’s political parties turned against each other.
I suspect there are multiple examples of this throughout history. Many Nations are based upon a wartime economy to employ or focus their populations animas and energy.
When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Empire (1988-1981) collapsed, peace broke out in the US. It last only about one year. US troops were redesigned as world peace keeping forces (don't forget Mogadishu and Black Hawk Down).
After about a year of supposed peace, the military begin shutting down and closing marginal military bases. This significantly impacted the towns that grew up around these bases. Local politicians began pressuring their State politicians complaining of the loss of jobs and economy created by the phased out bases. State politicians complained to their Congress peoples.
It wasn't long before (less than a year) and the US declared war on Sadam Hussein and the 1st Gulf War took off. We were back in business with the military-industrial complex and the war time economy was back on track.
It was during the reign of Reagan that Evangelicals ( remember the Silent Majority) entered politics with both feet. From that point on the two Parties began cannibalizing one another and the gap widened. Today is the consequence of that Reagan Era trend. Culminating in the Tea Party, the Freedon Caucus, and the Great Lie Party.