The thing that is often hard to understand about the United States is that many Americans hate each other, and many hate the non-Americans that live here even m

The thing that is often hard to understand about the United States is that many Americans hate each other, and many hate the non-Americans that live here even more. We aren't so much a melting-pot, where a single culture emerges from disparate ones living together, as we are an arena with enclaves of very separate, very antagonistic cultures that happen to live in the same country. It is often very difficult to convince these groups, especially the economically prosperous ones, to contribute to a system that helps the others, even to their own detriment. The rich don't want to pay for healthcare for the poor, the conservatives don't want to pay for healthcare for illegal immigrants, the mid-westerners don't want to capitulate to the coastal-elite agenda, progressives have zero respect for the values of conservatives and on and on. There are cultural lines drawn, and crossing those lines is nearly unthinkable to many Americans, even if it costs them their health. American culture is broken and divided, most people can see that but they think that the other groups are the problem, and I'm not sure we will make much progress on our massive problems unless something changes with it.