If there’s anything that I’ve learned through my first journey to the U.S. it’s that Americans are crazy. Now I know, especially I studying intercultural studies shouldn’t be that judgemental, but please bear with me for just one moment and have a look at the following:

Why is it that people in the U.S. are so much more personally involved in politics? One answer is for sure that persons and faces play a big role in U.S. politics. Of course we react differently to human beings than to policies. But that doesn’t seem to explain the radicalization that I see on the campaign trails and especially between the supporters. What’s the reason for that? One might think that’s a good thing that people are more and more becoming involved in politics. But I believe that they’re are not becoming involved in politics but mainly in the election campaigns. Still a good thing, people should be aware of whom they’re voting for. But these rallies? I mean, we all know that Americans really need this kind of event character and the action in everything. And as long the results make you smile (like the video above) and are that creative and crazy in a positive way I might agree. But there’s another side to it. I fear that people overidentify with their party and I guess we all know what that can lead to (see F. Glasl’s nine-stage model of conflict escalation) keeping in mind this “if you’re not with us – you’re against us”-mentality. So how to prevent from these scenarios?

First I thought that if the voters had more parties to identify with, the vast and moderate majority would get a home without extremists. But then I remembered Germany and what I see happen here at the moment. I quite get the impression that German political parties are diversifying. Now we have a new socialist party in the Bundestag deharmonizing the political landscape, the two big people parties are more and more losing voters. That doesn’t seem to be the solution. So there must be something else .. I’ll get back on that topic.