Are you getting the Government you are paying for...?

Question

Or, What can we agree on that will benefit the most people?

Is this no longer a country of the people, by the people and for the people? Why does Washington and the media polarize us ? Worse, why do we allow it?

Answer 1

Science benefits people. History is driven by technology, and people's lives are improved more through advances in knowledge than through political maneuvering.
It is a country of the people, but the people are irrational and easily misled.
Politicians polarize us because taking an extreme ideological stance is the only way they can show that they are "principled" and distinguish themselves from their opponents, even if they are in practice nearly identical.
The media polarizes us because controversy sells, and detailed investigation of issues that might be complex and ambiguous is both time-consuming and unpopular.
We allow it because, as previously noted, we're irrational, and surprisingly apathetic to boot. Alternately, people are so fed up with politicians and the media feeding us all this garbage that we try and find better things to do, and hope these problems sort themselves out.

And no, we're not getting what we pay for, and probably never will.

Answer 2

no, I'm not getting what I pay for
and I'm getting pissed about it, too