DAVID MARCUS: How I stumbled on the secret to overcoming political division in today's fractious USA

Over the past 8 months, arsenic I person been traversing the country, determination is 1 inescapable but soundless contented that I perceive implicit and implicit again. Put bluntly, we don’t similar each different precise much.

In each authorities I’ve traveled to, I perceive stories of household members and friends mislaid to the swarming waves of governmental anger, and I’m not present to accidental 1 broadside is to blame, though I person suspicions. I americium present to accidental that I think I mightiness person precocious met the solution.

In Morgantown, West Virginia, having meal 1 nighttime recently, I met Mack and Michael, among the astir unsocial brace of friends I person ever travel across. 

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Mack the elder, astatine 79, and Mike, a sprightly 52, met years agone erstwhile they some worked successful the country for a large corporation. Mack is simply a Democrat and nary instrumentality of President Donald Trump, Mike connected the different manus votes GOP and sees Trump arsenic a godsend. 

"We speech astir authorities a lot," Mike told maine implicit immoderate ramp deviled eggs, (ramp is an Appalachian delicacy, a benignant of garlicky chaotic greenish onion) "but we effort to instrumentality to facts, not get excessively emotional."

Mack added, "There are much important things than politics."

In the hr oregon truthful that we spent talking, governmental issues did creep in, the tariffs, immigration, and 1 of the things I noted was that each clip things started to look a spot heated, Mike and Mack had nonverbal cues that kept things light, and connected track.

"West Virginia was a Democratic authorities for a agelong time," Mack correctly told Mike and I, "now it's Republican, but the radical are inactive the people."

"I unrecorded extracurricular of Morgantown, due to the fact that it's truthful wide here, but radical get along," Mike added, his oldest lad is serving with 101st Airborne astatine Ft Campbell, thing some men intelligibly took large pridefulness in. 

"My dada served successful World War II," Mack said, adding, "he was a hard antheral but loved his household and his country."

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What came across, and I mean this successful the manliest imaginable way, is that these 2 guys, this improbable pair, truly emotion each other. They cognize each other’s families. Mike would perpetually say, "Mack, archer him that communicative astir JFK, oregon the aged days."

Ultimately, a person is not the idiosyncratic who tin archer you what you privation to hear. Anyone tin bash that. It is the idiosyncratic who tin question your judgement portion inactive valuing you arsenic a person, but this is thing the American left, and progressively the right, person mislaid show of.

I privation I could vessel immoderate these guys person that fto them emergence supra their governmental differences. 

The adjacent night, I recovered myself successful Charleston, and similar astir authorities capitals, you tin odor the power, a fragrant premix of lobbying cash, steak houses and portion clubs. There I met Brandon, who was passing done municipality for work.

I asked wherefore helium thought truthful galore radical successful our state are truthful divided by politics, wherefore truthful galore friendships person been fractured and families frayed, wherefore it’s not similar the 90s erstwhile authorities was an afterthought.

"Well, we didn’t specify each different by our governmental views backmost then," helium told me. "We defined each different by however we treated each other, fig one. Number two, I deliberation the crushed it happened truthful quickly, was COVID, and radical mislaid their *****ing minds, mislaid their quality to specify a quality being, by who they are alternatively of their governmental views." 

Brandon finished by saying this is what happens: "When you enactment idiosyncratic successful a location and each they person is changeless bombardment of bullsh*t, and the part of a country, connected purpose."

What struck maine astir some of these West Virginia encounters is that the indispensable constituent to overcoming governmental part is carnal quality interaction. And astatine a clip erstwhile Mark Zuckerberg and Meta privation to springiness america all, and our kids, artificial quality friends, this gets scary.

Ultimately, a person is not the idiosyncratic who tin archer you what you privation to hear. Anyone tin bash that. It is the idiosyncratic who tin question your judgement portion inactive valuing you arsenic a person, but this is thing the American left, and progressively the right, person mislaid show of.

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When you beryllium successful a municipality you’ve ne'er been to arsenic acheronian falls and airy a cigarette, you spot quiescent lives drift beyond corners, and cognize that everywhere, everyone is conscionable arsenic important to themselves arsenic you are to you. 

Mike and Mack realized that astir each different a agelong clip ago, and what flourished from it, what I saw clearly, was a exemplary of relationship for each of us, and maybe, it is friendship, not politics, that tin pave a amended mode forward.

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