In an attempt to create new ways of social interaction we have inadvertently created a means by which extremist views can flourish; infecting countless more like a virus. Ideas that once would have been viewed with disdain have become mainstream as well as the politicians who form a symbiotic relationship with angry mobs. So, too, does the media in its appeal for ratings. The left, for its part push's back with its own extremist views guaranteeing that no-one occupies the middle ground. It now seems as though we have become so divided along party lines that no agreement can be made and halting progress. Our greatest loss isn't that of a fully functioning government but rather the free and fair exchange of ideas. The day we could no longer listen to other opinions without contempt was the beginning off the end. The idea that 'the things that join us are far greater than the things that divide us' needs to be rekindled if we are to continue to survive this storm.