I live in a neighborhood that is largely populated by recent immigrants (mostly from Mexico and Central America) and gays and lesbians. The economic diversity of my neighborhood is staggering--millionaires literally live next door to some of the poorest people around. But just about everyone here who gives a shit about politics sways in one particular direction. To call Old North Durham left-leaning is like calling Dick Cheney bald. The people who live here are largely anti-Dean--but only because we're so pro-Kucinich.

I'm comfortable in such surroundings. Probably too much so, as this is not the "real America." I'd like to believe it is, but I'm not that delusional.

Of course, the "real America" isn't full of people who are 100 percent behind the Prez, folks who screech that any criticism of the government during wartime (actual or perceived) is tantamount to treason.

The real America includes all those people, and more. At this point, if the 2000 election were replayed, no one knows for certain who might win. The Prez hasn't won many converts, and his "enemies" are just as contemptuous and pissed off as ever. We are a nation polarized, though very few folks realize this because we've segregated ourselves from those who don't believe the way we do.

This includes the suburbs, which are the most ethnically-integrated sections of our country. If you make enough money, very few developers will refuse you a home. This triumph of greed over prejudice is truly heartwarming, but it also tends to segregate people on the basis of wealth.

So what is worse? Separation by race, cash or politics? I simply don't know. But in any case, all of us are walling ourselves off one way or another.

A lot of folks point to the electoral map and say the nation is separating itself by state, that certain states always vote a certain way, and that this is a seemingly unstoppable trend. Those folks are morons. These are the same folks who would have said that a Republican could never have won heavily-union West Virginia--but Bush did back in 2000. You can't predict the future, no matter how smart you might think you are.

But it is true that we are splitting up, and on some strange fault lines. There's the question of gay marriage, or the still-potent abortion argument. Even though I think the whole debate has been set up on false pretenses, the issue of balancing environmental concerns with business needs is flaring up with alacrity. And then, of course, there are the wars on drug and terrorism. Sometimes it's amazing we can stand together and call ourselves Americans.

From time to time, though, we do. And we ought to do so more often. It shouldn't take a Pearl Harbor or a 9/11 or a travesty like Oklahoma vs. LSU to unite this nation and call it to a common purpose. We ought to reach out to those who think differently, who look different, who live entirely different lives than we do and simply say, "I'm glad we're all here."

I know, I know, my bullshit in these columns is as much a part of the problem as part of the solution. I know that certain types of folks will read what I write--including an olive branch like this column--and simply get more upset. I wish that wasn't the case. But I can't control everyone, and I don't want to. I want to live in a country where all of us are free to express our opinions, and where the debates on those opinions are open and fair.

It won't happen. It can't happen. I know that as well. I know that my utopian visions are merely the rantings of a guy who's simply too tired to keep repeating the same old "Don't you people give half a shit when your leaders lie to you every day?" line.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, Sly Stone and Doris Day are holding hands and singing "Que Sera Sera." And if that isn't enough of a vision for you, I just don't know what to say.

Jon Worley is not only a libertarian socialist, he's also an pessimistic optimist.