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– It crosses families. Many can only talk about sports and food when they hang out, he says.
In recent weeks, Democrats and Republicans have held their digital party conventions. The battle to become president of the White House is in full swing.
The last time the United States went to the polls, Sanna Torén Björling was the newspaper’s Washington DC correspondent. Now, instead, she follows the reports from the apartment in Stockholm and occasionally comments on the development on the DN podcast.
– It is easy to get obsessed with American politics because it is so colorful and extreme. And Washington really is a bubble where it’s all about politics. In sports bars, debates are shown as often as matches, he says.
Sanna Torén Björling
Photo: Roger Turesson
Most were in the big city Liberal neighbors and colleagues, he quickly realized, while sparsely populated areas were marked by conservative values and religious morality. When you watched the election campaigns in 2016, you noticed how political polarization intensified.
– 20-30 years ago, people started from the same basic facts but had different opinions about it. Now they can’t even agree on what is true. This runs through families. Many people can no longer talk about politics when they hang out, but only about sports and food. Congress has not been this polarized since the 1850s, and neither Harvard professors nor people in the field see that development could be reversed, says Sanna Torén Björling.
– Many speak of the risk of a new civil war, and then it is no secret which side has more weapons. There is even something the Republican representatives joked about on social media.
When Sanna Torén Björling ended her foreign service in 2017, she didn’t feel ready for this. In her new book “Everything We Have in Common,” she returns to the United States and interviews researchers, politicians, and voters to describe the consequences of political polarization on society and private life.
– The crown bud is a good example. In a couple of weeks, everything related to the pandemic became a political party: where the infection came from, how dangerous it was and how it would be fought. Liberals wore mouth guards and conservatives didn’t. People have been shot dead because of this.
The book describes, among other things, the history of Republicans and Democrats, how the electoral system works, and what issues divide the electorate (weapons, migration, abortion). But also how and why the entire democratic system is under pressure right now.
Sanna Torén Björling
Photo: Roger Turesson
– The ways in which participation is manipulated are well studied, with the opposition to voting by mail, what identity documents are accepted and how constituencies are designed. I don’t think all citizens are aware of what is happening, he says.
Various life stories illustrate the situation in the country, especially Sanna Torén Björling’s childhood friend Sherry, whom she met in Australia during an exchange year in high school. The teens were united in the vulnerability of being away from home.
When Sanna moved with her husband and triplets to Washington in 2013, almost 25 years have passed since they were seen. During that time, they have maintained sporadic contacts through correspondence. The families soon find themselves at the scenic Thompson Falls in Montana, where Sherry has settled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. They row, hike, grill, and for the first time, Sanna tests firearms in the garden. The Montana couple, and also their two children, are dedicated Trump supporters. Family life has been governed by the husband’s errant work on various military bases.
When the friendship resumes after a tentative start, Sanna Torén Björling travels alone to interview Sherry about her life choices and positions, with a declared desire to write a book.
– At first she doubted, integrity is extremely sensitive to her. But she understood that this was important to me and stood up.
One scene describes how The host mother of the exchange family in Australia secretly reads the diary of 17-year-old Sanna and accuses her of espionage. The author carries that experience with him.
– In order not to feel like I’m exploiting Sherry, I needed to put something at stake. That is why the book is also about my life, says Sanna Torén Björling.
During her many conversations, she has been particularly attached to Sherry’s multifaceted vision of the female role.
– Sherry would never call herself a feminist, but she lives quite a feminist. She is characterized by her upbringing in the Mormon Church, where duty, work, and thrift are powerful forces. The role models are women who moved west before her. They eliminate. Be diligent. Strong. Competent.
Also other people in the circle of acquaintances it represents the divided United States. Among others, a liberal journalist in Washington and his conservative brother, a pharmacist in the small town of Indiana in Pennsylvania. They share a genuine interest in hunting, but due to increasingly polarized views, trips into the wild are increasingly rare. The goal has been to try to portray both sides with respect.
– In Sweden, it is easy to get the impression that the Lantis who vote for Trump are idiots. How can they vote for him after all they know about his views on women, racist statements, and outright lies? But it is more complicated than that. No one I’ve ever met appreciates what you write on Twitter, but they like what you’ve delivered politically. However, they are not malicious people. Sherry and I have different points of view on many things, but we also have a lot in common, such as how we reason about relationships with our children.
After returning to Sweden, Sanna Torén Björling can also recognize certain features of the political polarization here.
– Politicians’ attacks on the media are one of those things, even if it’s on a completely different level, he says.
Read more: Read an excerpt from Sanna Torén Björling’s new book “Everything we have in common”
