Where does the anger between red and blue come from? We’ve always had cultural differences, but our conflicts started feeling like an existential contest only fifteen or twenty years ago. Identifying the material conditions that drive us to political extremes will let us see the legitimacy of each other’s viewpoints and reveal ways to unite, overcome our true atagonists, and share a restored American prosperity.

Elite coastal cities have disproportionately captured economic gains through globalization and technology concentration, creating geographic inequality. The wealthiest cities are now seven times richer than poorest regions, a disparity that nearly doubled since 1960. Urban areas earn 23% more than rural communities, with coastal workers experiencing wage gaps exceeding $4,600 annually

Americans exist within a "reality distortion machine" where social media, cable TV, and demagogues transform fringe views into partisan warfare to sow divisions between us. Research shows most Americans hold moderate positions, but narrow political majorities allow extremist figures to hijack institutions. Psychological studies demonstrate that false feedback about political factions steadily undermines people’s moderate views.

Corporate political activities exclude citizen representation from decision-making, silence public voices in deliberation, and sacrifices the public’s interests for private gain. Corporate capture occurs when private industry uses political influence to control state decision-making apparatus through regulatory agencies, law enforcement, and legislatures. This creates "post-democracy" where businesses exercise inordinate governmental policy power.

Market fundamentalism's "exaggerated faith" that markets solve all problems has dominated policy debates since the 1980s, preventing recognition of critical issues like climate change, rural disintegration, and concentrated market power. Neoliberalism failed to solve the 1970s profit crisis, generating multilevel societal crises including financial speculation, welfare assault, and failed states globally. When free markets didn’t deliver the promised prosperity, it was easier for the rich to blame government interference and incompetence rather an admit their theories have failed.

Economies wither and people get angry when government officials use political power to appropriate national wealth through tightly integrated corrupt networks. They tell us to embrace shady programs such as deregulation, leveraged buyouts, or, more recently, cryptocurrency, but every time we find that the people who got in early scooped up all the profits and left the public with a dysfunctional mess.