Double Vision

America is not colorblind; it’s blinded by colors. Two specifically. Red and blue have turned into emblems of division and polarization, and not by accident. The rich and powerful who seek to lord over the rest of us wanted it this way, went to great lengths to make it this way.

When I was young, my family had a black and white television. When election outcomes were reported, there was no color coding, no red states and blue states, just vote totals on a screen. I was nearly in junior high by the time we got our first color set. Even then, there was no color coding of election results, no red America and blue America.

Again, this was no mere coincidence. Ownership of the TV networks that reported those results was not yet highly consolidated. Those intent on lording worked tirelessly to gain control of media outlets to the point where by the end of the 20th century, ownership of the vast majority of the thousands of TV and radio stations, newspapers and magazines in the U.S. was concen…