There are several factors that contribute to the nation’s fracture, but none are as compelling as the division that occurred among the people’s view of conformity. In The Fractured Republic, Yuval Levin described characteristics, such as culture, economics, and government intervention, that led to the fragmentation of society in the United States. The most striking quality mentioned the change of the level of individuality within America during the twentieth century. Whether America was full of conformists or individualists depended on the contributions that led to the fracture described by Levin. The variation in culture, the economy, and government intervention not only resulted in a fragmented nation, but it also caused the redefinition of the country’s public identity. Today, individualism in America has caused an even greater divide within communities that were once close, and according to Alexis de …show more content…
The fracturing of the cohesion in American society did not happen all at once. Although signs of individualism were seen after World War II ended, the idea of it did not start to seriously conflict with conformity until the 1950s. Conformity during the 1950s was still widespread, but its reasoning and effects were starting to become publicly questioned. Conformity’s attackers had begun to redefine what the American identity should be: “Most of the critics saw…conformity, and the almost blind faith in large, national institutions that they observed in the population, as crushing individual initiative and expression” (47). As the arguments against cohesion and consolidation continued, the idea of individualism became popularized. The media played a role in this by continuously displaying a person of interest who rebelled against authority. During this time, the Civil Rights Movement was beginning to gain a lot of momentum bringing a lot of change to American