We have a huge division in our country today and I am not sure anyone would disagree with that notion.
It is not like we are not good at it because from sports teams to geographical rivals to politics, we seem to always be taking sides and arguing with those that are "against" us.
But I was listening or reading something not too long ago and I heard this point.
We have one side in today's divided country that compares everything to their utopian perfection, what they want us to be vs. those who do reality comparison - us vs. everyone else out there.
There are positives and negatives to both, but let's look at utopian comparison first.
The problem with wanting a utopia or perfection is it is never attainable.
Never.
We are constantly striving, fighting, protesting, rioting, or just angry because we never attain that utopia.
We cannot get to where we want to be.
It's both admirable and sad.
It's admirable because those people want better for themselves, for others, for the country.
It's sad, though, because if they never understand that utopia is unattainable, they will be eternally miserable.
Then there are those who do the reality comparison.
They see the country in comparison to other countries of the world.
The US is racist, compared to what?
The US is sexist, compared to what?
This reality comparison shows that the country is better than much of the rest of the world and we can be proud of that fact.
Reality comparison is both admirable and scary.
It is admirable because if you have traveled or done any type of research, there are reasons why thousands of people are willing to risk their lives to come to our country.
And because of that, we seem to be a pretty good country compared to the rest of the world.
It's scary, though, because if we play this game all of the time, then we do not improve, become better.
So we have these two competing sides and most of us are stuck in the middle attempting to live our lives as happily as possible.
As divided as it seems, however, we need both of these ideals in our country to show appreciation for what we have/are and what we need to continue progressing to be even better.
But we do not want to cooperate - cooperation too often equates with losing in today's world.
We want to come out swinging and then retreat to our corner surrounded by like minded believers only to come out swinging again.
Maybe that is the way forward.
But it just seems so...barbaric, uncooperative and well...divisive.
