MSI Press Blog

  Today's Publisher's Pride is When Liberty Enslaves by Jerry Aveta, which reached #173 in campaigns & elections and #174 in abolition history of the US. Book Description There is a common experience between our experiences today and those before the Civil War many years ago.  The effect of the intersection of faith and politics during these two experiences has had on our elections and our governance is uncanny in their similarities.  Both times an election insurrection was stopped by the sitting vice president.  Both times had people of the same faith on both sides of the social issues of the day claiming God’s favor and willing to divide the nation over those competing positions. Part 1 of this writing focuses on the Civil War era and how liberty centered around the issue of equality.  Some people of faith believed all men were equal, some did not. Part 2 focuses on our present times and how liberty centers on the sanctity of life concerning abortion and ...

  History doesn’t repeat itself exactly, but it often rhymes. The years leading up to the American Civil War were marked by tension, mistrust, and moral conflict — forces that feel hauntingly familiar in today’s climate of unrest. Understanding those parallels can help us see both the danger and the opportunity in our own moment. 1. Polarization and moral certainty In the 1850s, Americans were divided not only by geography but by worldview. Each side believed it held the moral high ground — one defending freedom, the other defending tradition and economic survival. Today, our divisions also run deep: political, cultural, and moral. Many people see compromise as betrayal, and dialogue as weakness. When moral certainty hardens into contempt, empathy disappears — and democracy begins to fracture. 2. Information silos and propaganda Before the Civil War, newspapers were openly partisan. They didn’t just report events; they shaped them. Readers lived inside echo chambers of ideology. To...

  A two‑party system inevitably divides a nation when identity replaces ideas. The United States today illustrates this dynamic vividly: political affiliation has become a social marker, not just a policy preference. History shows that when only two dominant parties compete, polarization deepens until reform or crisis forces renewal. ⚖️ 1. Why two parties split societies Political scientists describe polarization in two forms: ideological (policy differences) and affective (emotional hostility toward the other side). In two‑party systems, both forms intensify because every issue becomes binary—there is no middle ground to absorb dissent. When voters must choose between only two camps, compromise feels like betrayal. Over time, parties evolve into tribes , each internally cohesive and externally suspicious. The result is not just disagreement but mutual moral condemnation —citizens stop seeing opponents as wrong and start seeing them as bad. 🕰️ 2. When it has happened before The...