America is in a mess. We are a divided nation and could this be the beginning of the end? Documentarian James Kicklighter explores how we got here and is there any hope in his documentary, The American Question.
Political analyst Guy Seemann is our host and takes us to states, Pennsylvania and Michigan, that are microcosms of this divide we’re experiencing. Seemann was once a political consultant, and after being disillusioned with politics, he moved to Israel to clear his mind and get a fresh perspective on the problem.
Seeman interviews experts in the field, including Amy Chua (Day of Empire), Tania Israel (Beyond Your Bubble), Ange-Marie Hancock-Alfaro (Solidarity Politics for Millennials), and Colin Woodard (American Nations). Yet the heart of the documentary is his interviews with average citizens, including a gym owner, a salon owner, and an Iraqi immigrant, to name a few.
“America is in a mess…is there any hope?”
Through Amy Chua, we learn that the great Hyperpower Countries (the U.S. being one) had one thing in common: they were pluralistic societies. The greatest Hyperpowers were the Mongols. When they conquered regions, they didn’t destroy them, but they let them exist, incorporating the best elements of each culture.
The American Question goes on to explore several themes. The first is trust and how Americans have lost this simple value. We’ve lost trust in our government, banks, school boards, and family gatherings. It began years ago when the core values that unified us began to deteriorate, such as freedom, the American dream, hard work, and family. All these values were based on tolerance—that we could coexist and still have differences.
Then came globalization, with the rise of American jobs being exported and foreign goods being imported. Foreign trade is important for the country to grow, but at the local level, with the collapse of the American auto industry in Detroit, the common person began to see their communities decay. It’s hard to see the bigger picture when you’re having difficulty feeding your family.
Identity is probably the biggest problem. As Americans, we have a single identity, but as individuals, we have multiple identities. Identity politics accentuates our differences rather than using our differences to build a community bound together by a common cause.
"…could this be the beginning of the end?"
