You think you know a topic in depth, and then something comes along and you realize you were so, so wrong.
As a foreign news editor, I’ve been covering international politics for more than a third of my life, and naturally, U.S. politics is high on my agenda daily. I’ve done my best to learn as much as possible about the (if we’re honest – not-so-easy-to-understand) way things work here. I’m well aware of the magic number 270, the electoral system, and I can easily explain who does what in the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. But once I got into the United States, I found out you never really know something until you actually experience it.
So here I am in Minnesota, and I’ve heard more than a dozen times: “But we are a purple state”. Yes, the Democratic Party is in control, but let’s not forget the rural areas in the “Land of the 10,000 Lakes” that are predominantly Republican. Still, in an ever-so-polarized nation, the people in this state seem to have “agreed to disagree,” and this model has been working for decades.
Sure – there’s tension beneath the surface.
But big picture, it feels like it might be easier to live where many people seem to be aware that opinions are split. And if you are willing to get things done, you might have to work with your political opponents.
Willing to disagree with me? You might just be right.
“Don’t forget the political violence,” you might say. I haven’t.
Just a couple of months ago, we learned of the horrific assassination of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. Even their dog wasn’t spared. For the alleged killer to keep a hit list of officials supportive of abortion sounds so strange, almost absurd. But that is the reality in the United States today.
The country that remains the most influential in the world is being torn apart by its own politicians and political division – and even its own citizens. Having an opinion is one thing (and a good thing), but forcing it onto someone else? Not so much.
Killing or hurting someone for disagreeing with you? Out of the question.
We are now living in the era of violent populism. Not only in the United States, but also worldwide.
It’s easy to blame it all on Donald Trump and his rhetoric, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. “Trump is a symptom, not a cause,” David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University, recently said. I couldn’t agree more.
Eight months after the current administration took the Oval Office, the States haven’t remained politically divided, rather – the situation seems to have reached its boiling point.
The divisions seem to run deeper than just policy disagreements. They are cultural, emotional and often personal. It’s no longer Republicans vs. Democrats; it’s “us” vs. “them.”
The 47th president might not have started the division, but his leadership style has indeed
intensified it. From trying to oppress the media, to blaming immigrants for problems of the U.S. economy unrelated to them or even calling them “aliens” – is that really the example the leader of the free world should set? You already know my answer.
But then there are the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump himself and the recent murder of the far-right activist Charlie Kirk. 
Looking back at the presidential campaign, I remember my colleagues and I saying, “Now he won the elections.” We made this comment after a bullet narrowly missed the then Republican candidate. As Schultz said: “The tragedy of political violence is that it actually works.”
The big question is: Does it have to be this way?
As a European, I’m used to living in a gun-free space. Am I going to get used to the American way of doing things regarding guns? Chances are slim to none. I’m just getting started on my journey across the States, and one of the answers I will be searching for is “Why?”. Why do people find it easier to use violence? And when did we get back to the times when an idea might cost you your life?
