Some political scientists, seeing how bitterly divided the United States is politically, fear that the country is entering a period of political violence comparable to The Troubles in North Ireland.
"Real Time" host Bill Maher examined those tensions with two guests — conservative-leaning New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman and liberal Van Jones — during his Friday night broadcast. And Friedman argued that tech companies are making a fortune tearing the U.S. apart.
When Maher noted recent polls saying that most Americans believe the country's "severe divisions" cannot be repaired, Friedman laid out "what's new about this moment" compared to the United States' political conflicts of the past.
Friedman told Maher and Jones, "We aren't divided; we are being divided by companies for profit. And we have our divisions; we always have. But what is new in my life: it is now a giant industry to make people stupid and angry
Maher asked Friedman if he was "talking about algorithms," and the Times columnist responded, "Exactly. Facebook and all the things that these people do."
Friedman said, "We're going through a lot of social change. We're going through a lot of technological change. The pot would be boiling. But then, along came (Facebook CEO) Mark Zuckerberg and turned the heat up on the pot. And then, along came Trump and took the lid off the pot, and he made it permissible, popular and profitable to say and do things about each other we never did before."
Jones interjected that when Americans are online, algorithms are quick to identify them as liberal or conservative and give them "different information" every day.
Jones told Maher and Friedman, "And so now, you literally think your neighbor is insane, because how could they possible think this stuff? But if you put your phone next to their phone, you're in different algorithmic universes. And that is brand new and very dangerous."