The rest of the world has a question about America. Why the gravitation to someone like Donald Trump? Guy Seemann, an Israeli-born entrepreneur and political operative, sought out the answer to America’s great divide and extremist lean.
For eight years, he interviewed people in the swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan. What he learned turned on a lightbulb, or, you might say, turned over the proverbial rock that revealed a seamy complicated reality.
The First Take-Away
Seemann, an unassuming red-head, set out to unravel the American division mystery that I thought was wound up too tightly in a tangled mashed ball of yarn to ever separate out into a logical strand. But when he came upon a good woman, Karen Teegarden, CEO of UniteWomen and participant in an all-women’s peace and justice choir, I heard an explanation I understood.
She told about a friend in Flint, Michigan. You might remember that the city switched its municipal water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River to save some money in 2014. However, the Flint River water caused the water distribution pipes to corrode and leach lead into Flint’s drinking water. A disaster ensued where the water was too dirty to even wash dishes in, much less drink or take a shower.
She said the people in Flint expected that the president at the time, Barak Obama, would fix this situation.
Municipal water systems aren’t under a president’s purview, but they trusted Obama to take care of them. When he didn’t, the woman’s friend let it be known that she felt betrayed and couldn’t vote Democrat again. It is left to us to think that the woman didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 because she thought he’d do better, but because she felt, justly or unjustly, betrayed by the Democrats.
Seemann interviews people in three depressed cities: Erie and Hazleton in Pennsylvania, and Detroit in Michigan. It’s the same depressing story. People were depending on the Federal Government to take care of them. When factories and industries shuttered, they thought the Federal government would step in to create new jobs and fix their situation.
They lost trust in the Democrats.
The Second Take-Away
The second point that grabbed me was Seeman’s discovery that more extreme political views have coincided with a reduction in the four pillars of community engagement in America: church attendance, unions, newspapers and, ironically, political party involvement.
As people have grown more individualized and less involved in their community, especially in the Pennsylvanian and Michigan towns where businesses have left, they have become more lonely, isolated, and depressed. They feel lost, forgotten and disenfranchised. They have lost their sense of power and they have lost trust in all institutions, including banks, schools and government. To fill the vacuum, extreme perspectives have found a home.
The Filmmaking Team
Seeman is a very interesting guy. He seems split himself, so the project may mirror some of his own experience. He was born in Israel but grew up in New Jersey. His dad died when he was 12. After he was 15, he worked on political campaigns, one for a Democrat and one for a Republican. After the campaigns, he moved to Israel. There, he found an intense lack of trust between just about everyone.
He saw distrust wasn’t just an American thing. Frustrated, he returned to the US and spent eight years on this film project to figure out “how the glue that held American together had dissolved.”
He interviewed high school students, professionals, professors, and people of various ethnic origins, trying to figure out some common threads.
His qualitative study was a team effort that included James Kicklighter, director, writer, and executive producer, who was also the film director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign in Virginia.
The team came up with four personal actions Americans can do to avoid a catastrophic national split. Then they cited three things citizens should demand politicians do.
Seeman and his film team have created a deeply thoughtful film for our times. It’s a must-watch for those frustrated with the great divide and some of the reasons why people vote as they do. For Seeman and team, looking under the rock and re-creating some organization and understanding is a first step.
Credits
Director: James Kicklighter
Writing Credits: Lucy Copp (written by), James Kicklighter (story by),
James Kicklighter (written by), Guy Seemann (story by), and Guy Seemann (written by)
Producer: Guy Seeman
Executive Producers: Marika Feuerstein, S. Asher Gelman, Liran Kapoano, and James Kicklighter
Featuring: Amy Chua, Colin Woodard, Yuval Levin, Yascha Mounk, Tania Israel, Guy Tal Seemann, Karen Teegarden, and others
Director of photography: Jonathan Pope
Editors: Mohamed El Manasterly, J.D. Sievertson, James Kicklighter, and Carlos Puga
Music: Nicolas Repetto
Released: Oct. 29, 2024
Official Website: https://www.theamericanquestion.com/
How to view: iTunes
Note: Gravitas Ventures released “The American Question” Oct. 29 on all streaming on demand platforms (including Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube TV and all leading cable on demand providers including Comcast’s Xfinity, Charter’s Spectrum, and AT&T’s DirectTV), home video DVD and Blu-ray.
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