America is falling apart

[Beet]

If America is falling apart it is because having a culture and society is fundamentally at odds with capitalism, in which people are nothing more than resources, cogs in the capitalist machine. Instead of a real culture, we have cultural products which are sold for money. Our culture, essentially, is money. And this creates tremendous alienation, naturally, between people and any idea of a 'nation'. This tension has always been around, but it is becoming more intense as capitalism pervades American life more and more thoroughly.

Hence, people easily buy into bread and circuses such as "culture wars" and partisan politics that serve to keep the masses divided over issues that have the illusion of deep meaning but are actually relatively low stakes and non-threatening to the status quo. External adversaries like China are needed to give people a sense of meaning and struggle that would otherwise be missing. In the meantime, the capitalism system continues on and the rich and powerful become more rich and powerful, while everyone else fights over the scraps.