Pat Buchanan thinks that only a terrible tragedy like 9/11 could ever unify America again.
In the final part of his exclusive interview with The Daily Caller about his new book, “The Greatest Comeback,” Buchanan says it’s clear the United States is all but irreconcilably divided.
“The country is permanently polarized. I don’t see it ever coming together again,” Buchanan told TheDC. “You’ve got almost a change in civilization.”
He says this is a significant change from America’s earlier history where, in his opinion, “culturally and morally, on the ideas of right and wrong, we were pretty much united on that. We were just divided on politics and foreign policy. And now the divisions are on everything.”
Buchanan places a large portion of the blame for this polarization on America’s increasing level of diversity — directly attacking the notion that there’s strength in diversity. He cited the highly regarded research of Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam to support his position.
“Putnam says the social capital is at its lowest level anywhere he found — certainly in the United States, maybe in the world — in Los Angeles, the most diverse community in the country,” he said.
“People say diversity brings strength, but you get to the Tower of Babel and I’m not sure that’s strong. It almost defies common sense. What do you have for our people to unify around?”
He covered this issue extensively in his previous books “Suicide of a Superpower” and “The Death of the West.” He was fired from MSNBC for penning the former book due to the network finding the content “offensive.”
Buchanan believes there was much more free speech in the 1960s than there is today — largely due to the predominance of political correctness in contemporary society.
“Debate was much freer and more robust in those days than it is today. The intimidation of the political culture, constantly dragging individuals into the public to apologize for some comment that they made and all the rest of it,” Buchanan declared. “Political correctness is intolerance personified.”
But, while he does think this country is quite possible permanently divided, Buchanan does think that another external attack on the United States has the potential to bring the country together — albeit temporarily.
“But I’ll tell you when it does come together. Pearl Harbor, of course, brought us together completely. 9/11 brought us together,” Buchanan said.
“You get a Pearl Harbor, you get a 9/11, we’ll come together temporarily in terms of what we should go and do to the people who did this to us. But culturally, morally, and socially I find it hard to believe it’s ever going to come together again the more diverse it becomes.”