There's not two sides.

While during the American Civil War (1861-1865) there were people that were polarized by sides, there really were many sides because many people had different ideas about how the country should be.

Think about it, the West, which really began in Kentucky and Indiana, was different than say someone in Massachusetts or Georgia.

Someone could be for States Rights versus the Union and Federalism, and not be a slave owner at all. The tariff was a bigger issue than people remember today. It was the primary reason for the Civil War, not slavery.

Today we have so many disperate groups. Post-modern people don't identify with groups anyway. The idea of Republicans and Democrats is an old paradigm.

Yes, you have OWS, Tea Party, Socialists, Communists, but you also have gay folks, disenfranchised folks who are desperately poor, racial groups, etc.

All of that is combined together creating lots of sub-groups. It's not simple at all.

As people give up more and more, because they need food and support from the government, they need to keep voting for whatever group gives out more (in their minds at least). That follows, right?

This means an unscrupulous government and corporate interests could erode the basic freedoms if it interferes with profit and security.