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Health care reform, gay marriage, gun laws, taxes - endless debate and acrimony have plagued American politics. Health care reform, for example, may have passed, but the journey to get there painted a polarizing picture of America. Even the six-hour summit to solve the health care problem failed to sway even one Republican.
Conflict between liberals and conservatives
The conflict between liberals and conservatives is one of the most divisive issues in the United States today. Whether we look at political polarization between conservatives and liberals or economic polarization between the wealthy 1% and the rest of the nation, this conflict threatens to tear the country apart.
During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, liberals and conservatives were at odds with each other over religious issues. In the 18th century, liberals fought conservative opponents over religious matters, and they called for the separation of church and state. In this debate, each side was defending their own position.
Moral intuition
Moral intuition is the idea that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and fairness. This belief is self-evident to those who believe in moral intuition. But there are two ways to interpret moral intuition. One view holds that moral disagreement is a consequence of non-moral facts.
Some people claim that moral intuition involves dispositions to feel certain emotions or judgments about when to feel certain emotions. Others believe that emotional responses are not reliable indicators of ethical judgment.
Personality differences
Personality differences are based on a wide range of inherited and learned traits. Some personality traits are more prevalent than others. For example, extraversion is associated with high feelings of sociability, while openness is associated with a low level of feeling. However, not all personality traits are consistent and will not necessarily predict an individual's behavior in different situations.
Researchers have identified eleven "big-picture" traits associated with personality. These traits are related to the characteristics of most people. People with a high level of conscientiousness are more likely to study hard and complete tasks on time, and spend less time on non-essential activities. In addition, people who are highly conscientious are more likely to exercise and eat a healthy diet. These traits are closely related to the health of an individual. They can also have a profound impact on the lives of others, and on the organization in which they work.
Politics
The endless debates about health care reform and gay marriage, as well as gun laws, taxes, and war have been a cause for constant acrimony. Whether you're a conservative or a liberal, there is no escaping the debate. Politics is not just a way of making money, as many people assume. Rather, it is a way of shaping policy and affecting people's lives. No amount of spin can convince Americans to ignore these issues, and political movements that craft bad policy will have to deal with it at the polls.
Culture
Culture is a complex phenomenon, constantly in flux. New objects and ideas enter the world around us every day, and new technologies are born. Old ways of thinking can be replaced by new ones, and the pace of change causes new cultural norms to emerge. In the same way, people react differently to new ways of doing things.
Sociologists study culture from different perspectives. Some view it as a reflection of the values and social structures of society; others focus on the interaction between individuals. In addition, critical sociologists see culture as inherently unequal and a cause of inequality. Different theories explain different occurrences in culture, and each has its own nuances.