Some Good News as Thanksgiving Approaches

We're not as divided as you might think.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, here’s something worth being grateful for: a new Gallup poll says Americans are more united than divided.

Surprised? You’re not alone. It certainly doesn’t feel that way.

So what gives? Why does it seem like we’re in the middle of a national meltdown?

Here’s the answer: Unity doesn’t sell.

It doesn’t drive ratings, doesn’t go viral, and doesn’t keep the outrage-machine humming. But division? Division is a business model.

Cable news — Fox, CNN, and MSNBC (or “MS Now,” if you’re keeping up with its new name) — aren’t in the business of healing. They’re in the business of stoking conflict. And they know exactly how to do it: hand the mic to the loudest, angriest voices on both sides and let them go at it.

When was the last time you heard someone on cable say, “I’m a conservative, but liberals have a point”? Or vice versa? You don’t. Because middle ground doesn’t make money.

And it’s not just the executives who are calling the shots. The people you see on-air —the anchors, the contributors, the “journalists” — know how to keep their jobs. Stir the pot, serve the narrative, and keep the audience mad enough to come back after the break.

Let’s not be naive. Most Americans probably do want some kind of unity. But the hardcore partisans? They don’t. They thrive on the idea that the other side isn’t just wrong — but morally corrupt and dangerous.

That’s what sells now.

And if all you see are these well-designed fights — on TV, online, in headlines — you start believing that’s reality. That the country’s coming apart at the seams.

But here’s the twist: maybe it isn’t.

Maybe we’ve just been sold a warped version of America — one that profits off keeping us angry. And maybe, if we turn down the noise and talk to each other instead of shouting past each other, we’d find there’s still plenty of common ground.

So this Thanksgiving, when you’re sitting across the table from someone who thinks differently, remember this: we’re probably not as divided as we think.

And that’s something to be thankful for.

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