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I could write a whole article like I always do on this, but I want to leave this an open-ended discussion for ya'll.

Here's why I think this could be the case: There's a few notable trends going on in American life under the surface in modern times. Religiosity is down, and interfaith marriage is up. Interracial marriage is climbing every year for the 3 biggest races in the US, and racial tension, while flaring up again if it isn't over-represented by the news, is certainly in long-term decline from the civil rights movement and black panther days. At least between black and white people, perhaps the Hispanic divide is increasing? But interestingly, political polarization is on the incline, and interpolitical marriage is dropping in approval. There's studies recently that shows that the identification as liberal or conservative influences how people view others more than their actual views, showing the importance people put to these identities.

In addition, with the global connection to Europe from the internet, the "American Civil Religion" (wikipedia it) has less respect in the modern era, with the American democracy being viewed as one of many and the current president not being viewed with much respect at all. Institutions are increasingly viewed as not internationally extraordinary but deeply flawed and not worth revering without reform. Even American concepts outside the government like the American Dream are looked at with a more cynical eye.

So here's my question: Are the old cohesive identities in the US of race, religion, and the core american identity in decline in favor of partisan identities? And if so, does that actually mean anything with how people interact with the state and each other? Or have I underrepresented identification with other facets of society like urban vs rural (notably more 50-50 than most countries) or class.

Can't we just admit that the USA is going though a nationwide identity crisis?

all of that sounds like

but i think that's a gross over s implication of the matter if really any weight at all.
I think this fellow touches on a lot if t

the undermining of the institutions isn't surprising to me, there is a great deal of forces that have been undermining it for years, counter culture and the shift in society is understandable and i agree the glue is coming undone because of ideological drift. It could be the that your culture has turned inward and by picking each other a part and a lapse in your core values have made it so that your culture is looking for enemies internally rather than the enemies of freedom externally as you used to.
It could even be that the old model of governance is impossible in light of the internet and your country will drift into ideological ethnostates but that seems a bit much to me.

I think this is the result of the ascendancy of the progressives and i hope it is short term. He at the end remarks on the nature of the pluralist society and it got me thinking how the Dems have enjoyed a sort of moralistic monopoly recently and have been setting the tone of the culture. Right wing moralism from a christian perspective has been dead a long time and since right wing tends to come from institutions and hierarchy rather idealism belief in their ideas generally are tapering off. Part of it is in the name, progressive coping from the belief they hold in progressing the society forward if you see people say (wrong/right side of history) there is a grand narrative at play a march toward utopia and a reduction of traditional values and traditional ideas. It creates a delusion that those against me are immoral are stopping progress and are harmful or at worst the extreme of my political enemies (Nazism, fascism). this isn't necessarily new, McCarthyism, Satanic panic. and i think a lot of this is the unwillingness to defend one's beliefs and converse with a perceived moral inferior and that this will disappear as time runs on. part of the power of the pluralistic society is to resist these sorts of things and if conservatives reach about equal footing and have an argument against the moralism of the progressives things coudl balance out again, barring the extreme hold outs.

It could also be that the last election shook the country, i've heard that 3rd party voting is up and that there is a schism in the Democratic party along old gourd and bernie voters, likewise between the populists and the old republicans. this could split everything up and undermine people's faith in the central parties.
only time will tell