To say that America right now is divided is to obviously be stating the obvious.
Back in November, about half the voters voted for Trump and about half the voters voted for Harris.
But the big divide may have started to become a bigger divide five years ago this month.
In a new Pew Research Center poll of almost 10,000 Americans, 72% of U.S. adults said the pandemic did more to drive the country apart than to bring it together.
And ironically, that’s one of the few points of agreement among the majority of Americans, who experienced the pandemic in different ways, based on race, class, age and political party.
A majority of Republicans (62%) think there should have been fewer restrictions. A majority of Democrats (59%) think the restrictions were just about right.
As one commentator put it this week, COVID was not a collective experience.
While some came away from the pandemic with a renewed appreciation for science and thankful for a vaccine that kept the death toll from the virus from not being even higher than the one million it was.
But many others came away from the pandemic feeling very angry about losing their jobs or businesses and their kids not being in school and facing lost time in learning.
Now five years after the coronavirus emerged, a pandemic hangover lingers across America and the division between us having become even worse.
Somehow, someway, maybe there is a way to bring us more together. The pandemic may be over, but the healing is far from it.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: AFP via Getty Images