Some people, particularly those in Western Europe and the Scandinavian countries say the US has become the most toxic society.

Where else do people die for a lack of basic medicine? What other country has a mass shooting per day? If we’re painfully honest, America excels at hate now — whether blank indifference or impassioned cruelty. Everybody seems to hate everybody else, perpetually — not at an individual level, maybe, but certainly at a group level. It’s a set of little tribes — blacks, whites, Asians, liberals, conservatives, rich, poor, young, old — who seem to genuinely despise one another.

via Why Americans Love to Hate Each Other (And Hate to Love Each Other)

Unfortunately, throughout the ages the loudest, most vulgar voices get almost all the attention and when most of the US media outlets spend the vast majority of their time on those voices who can blame those in other countries who think we are all bitter, negative and violent. Yes, there is hatred in America that has not been there in recent memory, but for the most part, the majority of us are just going about living our lives as we have always done. That part of America doesn’t make the daily news in other countries.

While I think that the writer of the quote above used the words that he did because he knew they would strike alarm in those who read them. He wanted to get our attention and for the most part, he certainly did that.

I certainly hope and am totally convinced that these ugly times, even if they are limited to a slice of our population,  will be an anomaly in history instead of becoming the new norm. It just has to be. I am praying that the mid-term election coming up validates that hope.