WALSH: There Can Be No Unity In America

In recent days, more and more people have been predicting civil war in America. Others have recoiled from such predictions and called for “unity” and less “divisiveness.” Personally, I don’t think there’s a civil war on the horizon. We’re far too lazy for that. But I don’t think there will be unity, either. I don’t think there can be. And I think the people who sermonize about “unity” are being incredibly disingenuous.

It may feel nice to speak of unity. It may make you look wonderfully civil and wonderfully tolerant. And you may earn a round of applause if you stand up on a platform and bravely denounce divisiveness and hatred. But this is just happy talk. It means nothing. In order for us to meaningfully unite, we must have something meaningful to unite around. We must have shared beliefs, shared ideas, shared priorities, all of which can serve as a focal point for this unity. Sadly, we have none of those. So, we do not have unity. And we will not have it in the foreseeable future.