ABSTRACT
There has been a disruption of American social union. There is little room for compromise on such public issues as abortion or gun ownership. Less extremely, men differ from women, and Whites from Blacks (and others) on quotas or affirmative action programs. In fact, men often differ strongly from men, women from women, and minority members from each other. From one point of view there is an erosion of social toleration. The “liberal” or “conser-vative” mass media have often been blamed for the state of society about which they bring us daily and hourly messages. From another, there is an absence of widely shared commitment to overcome social norms. We are seeing the loss of a core, resulting in a basic change in people.
