Letters Across a Divided America

Across the divide.

Dear George,

I don’t know if this letter will change anything, but I’m writing because I’m sick of being told what I’m supposed to think, how I’m supposed to talk, and what I’m allowed to believe about my own country.

You call people like me “MAGA” like it’s an insult — but for me, it just means I still believe America used to stand for something. I grew up in a place where people worked hard, paid their taxes, raised their kids, and didn’t have to apologize for loving their country or believing in God. Now it feels like that kind of pride makes me the villain in my own story.

Every day, I turn on the news and see chaos — the border wide open, crime out of control, our cities overrun by drugs and homelessness, our kids being taught things in school that have nothing to do with math or history. We’re $35 trillion in debt, and our leaders pretend we can just print money forever. And the people who caused it all — the politicians, the media, the bureaucrats — act like they’re the adults in the room while the rest of us are the problem.

Meanwhile, we get lectured by people who’ve never had to worry about missing a paycheck. People who think we’re stupid or racist because we question what’s going on. I’ve lost friends because I voted for Trump — not because I said anything hateful, but because I refused to apologize for wanting a president who actually stood up for the working class and against the swamp that’s been running this country into the ground for decades.

You talk about democracy, but let’s be honest — the system feels rigged. Big Tech censors conservative voices. The media spins every story to fit their narrative. The FBI and DOJ go after one side while ignoring corruption on the other. When we ask questions about elections, we get called “deniers.” When we protest, we get labeled “insurrectionists.” And when cities burn in the name of social justice, it’s somehow “understandable.”

We’re angry because we feel betrayed by a government that’s forgotten who it serves. I don’t trust Washington. I don’t trust the media. I don’t trust global corporations that talk about “equity” while sending our jobs overseas and buying up farmland. And I sure don’t trust the people who tell me the greatest threat to America is people like me.

I know progressives think they’re fixing the country. But from where I sit, it looks like you’re tearing it apart — dividing us by race, silencing dissent, rewriting history, and trying to turn faith and patriotism into something shameful. I’m angry because I love this country, and I’m watching it fall apart while half of America cheers it on.

So yeah, I’m mad. I’m tired of being mocked, censored, and told I’m on “the wrong side of history.” Maybe you’ll never understand where I’m coming from. But at least now you’ve heard it straight — no filter, no pundit, no politician.

You want to know why we’re divided? It’s because we don’t even agree on what America is anymore.

Sincerely,
Bruce, a fed-up American who refuses to give up on the country I love.

Dear Bruce,

Thank you for having the courage to write to me. There are two immediate things that are clear. We are both angry and disappointed in what has become the United States. And we both want a better now and a brighter future for our families, our communities, and our nation.

I think we have both journeyed through multiple generations in America and have seen prices rise while wages have flattened. People are working harder and longer hours for less. Instead of the promise that by working hard you could earn a decent living, afford a nice home, and put some money away for a rainy day, most Americans today couldn't afford an unexpected $1,000 expense. I am angry and frustrated by this, and clearly you are as well.

We've both lived through a time in which major companies established pension plans that, when coupled with our Social Security at retirement, would allow us to enjoy a decent quality of life in return for our work effort during the prime of our lifetime. We saw many of those pension commitments to us erased through corporate bankruptcies, financial loopholes, and even fraud. When we started our respective careers, most companies provided healthcare coverage for us and our family as a benefit. Over the course of time, the cost of healthcare coverage has shifted from employers to employees. The cost of care, doctor visits, prescriptions, hospitalization has exploded and shifted more of those costs to all of us in the form of co-pays and deductibles. As benefits have eroded and costs have shifted to all of us, profits have risen, and executive pay, executive bonuses, and investor dividends have skyrocketed. In 1975 average executive pay was about 25 times the pay for an employee. In 2025 average executive pay is 300 times the average pay for an employee.

Higher education, public colleges and universities were once affordable. Now, our kids and grandkids who earn their degrees begin their careers saddled with massive student loan debt. For example, at the University of California at Los Angeles, tuition alone for a bachelors degree in business would cost about $61,000. In 1975 the cost was about $2,600.

Like you, I don’t want chaos at the border. Law without humanity fails, but so does compassion without order. I've heard how some media entities say that progressives simply want "open borders". I want a fair and well-controlled immigration system that provides a pathway to citizenship for hard-working people from other countries who have passed rigorous background checks and will contribute to our country as they have since the United States was founded.

I find myself horrified in how moms, dads, sisters, brothers, and children are now, in many cases, violently arrested and detained by ICE agents. Are you concerned that on one hand we are told that undocumented immigrants are coming to the United States to live on social welfare, yet most of the ICE raids are at places of employment? I would rather see the FBI, ICE and local law enforcement used to arrest those who have committed violent crimes wouldn't you?

I'm very concerned about our education system. When I think of any form of democracy I know it requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. As the complex and changing world around us becomes more competitive and our children, grandchildren, and future generations will have to confront challenges we might not even fathom -I want them to have the very best education as possible. To me, an affordable world-class education is an important part of national security. I don't want students indoctrinated to simply become obedient consumers. I don't want a generation of "test-takers". I want the next generation to have a foundation of knowledge across mathematics, science, language, civics, history, philosophy, humanities, art, music, political systems, economics, and independent living skills. I want that education to be unfettered by the politics of today or tomorrow. And I want educators to enjoy tenure and academic freedom.

I share your concern about the national debt. It doesn't make sense to me that at a time in which our debt is setting a new record on a daily basis that we would slash taxes for corporations and those who have hoarded extreme wealth. Economics is the engine that drives every nation forward. It should be a patriotic duty for every individual and business to contribute their fair share of taxes, not lobby and make massive campaign "donations" in order to lower their tax responsibility and shift it to you and I.

I agree with you on the issue of "Tech Bros". We are each concerned about privacy issues. Billionaires such as Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Larry Ellison are controlling major social media platforms (and therefore, our social posts, our likes, our friends and connections) can cause either of us or our families considerable harm. Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel, lets governments fuse enormous amounts of personal data—from DMV files and phone extractions to commercial databases and social media—into searchable profiles that power policing, immigration enforcement, and intelligence. This enables mass government or private surveillance with limited transparency or oversight. Massive platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, the former Twitter, and TikTok are already used against all of us by distributing propaganda, disinformation, and through their algorithms. They keep people like us divided, angry, and outraged against each other. By keeping us divided, as a society we are easily conquered.

Finally the "weaponization" of the DOJ and other government agencies is another shared concern we have. The fundamental mission of the DOJ is to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights. The DOJ is supposed to ensure fair and impartial justice for all Americans.

I think we both might agree that any Administration attempting to subvert the independence of the DOJ to pursue political opponents (as opposed to those who commit serious crimes against the United States and/or its citizens) is an attack on the rule of law and the founding principles of America.

Thank you again for reaching out to me. I do think that if more people gathered and respectfully discussed the concept of what we want the United States of America to be, we'd find we are closer together than the forces of extreme wealth and media would have us believe. Perhaps our real fight isn’t with each other, but with the systems that profit from keeping us divided.

Your "Radical-Left Antifa" Friend, and also a fed-up American who refuses to give up on the country I love,

George

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