I beg to disagree. We are not a predominately unkind society. We are extraordinarily kind. But what we are is an adversarial society which manifests itself in intolerance of “the other.” We are constitutionally north or south, east or west, urban or rural, liberal or conservative.

Our politics has poisoned us. Our adversarial system of government leaves only a binary choice, and that absolute power has corrupted us absolutely. Choose one: Democrat or Republican, they are diametrically opposed. Compromise is condemned, control is complete – until the next election cycle.

The Framers were wise enough to create a three-branched government, with the independent judiciary by most accounts saving our republic from the other two branches in this past election cycle. But they erred in an Electoral College which virtually mandated our duopoly as an unintended consequence. It may have served us well for the first two centuries but has now brought us to the brink of ideological “civil” war.

We are an increasingly complex society in which a simplistic binary choice no longer serves us well – it is to our detriment. We need to fracture our two-fold politics in order to force us into compromise. Look at our affiliations. Every survey of Americans shows that there are in fact three distinct but roughly equal party preferences: Democrat, Republican, Independent.

If we had three parties in fact and in parity, collaboration would be obligatory. Real dialog would be required in order to fashion a strong majority consensus attracting two out of the three factions.

In other words, Americans would be FORCED to talk to and cooperate with one another instead of being forced to confront one another. Unfortunately, the Electoral College is an obstacle which would require a constitutional amendment to remove. Unfortunately, again, that would require our cooperation.

Full circle; full stop.