# An oped by Prof. Jonathan Haidt on America's right-left divide

1 Faculty News October 1, 2012 ![](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_038311.gif?itok=4oNRrGzP)>

Excerpt from [The Saturday Evening Post](http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2012/08/21/in-the-magazine/trends-and-opinions/americas-painful-divide.html) -- "The problem is not just limited to politicians. Technology and changing residential patterns have allowed each of us to isolate ourselves within cocoons of like-minded individuals. In 1976, only 27 percent of Americans lived in 'landslide counties'—counties that voted either Democratic or Republican by a margin of 20 percent or more. But the number has risen steadily; in 2008, 48 percent of Americans lived in a landslide county. Our counties and towns are becoming increasingly segregated into 'lifestyle enclaves,' in which ways of voting, eating, working, and worshipping are increasingly aligned."

[Read more](http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2012/08/21/in-the-magazine/trends-and-opinions/americas-painful-divide.html)

Additional coverage appeared in [The Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-saturday-evening-post/healing-americas-politica_b_1974775.html).