The Republicans spoke for those who wanted to get ahead, and the Democrats spoke for those who wanted a fair shake. Through much of the 20th century, the two political parties had clear identities and told distinct stories. Tracing the evolution of these narratives can tell you something about a nation’s possibilities for change. The long gaze in the mirror has to end in self-respect or it will swallow us up. But just as no one can live a happy and productive life in nonstop self-criticism, nations require more than facts-they need stories that convey a moral identity. Americans know by now that democracy depends on a baseline of shared reality-when facts become fungible, we’re lost. They’re the ones that address our deepest needs and desires. The most durable narratives are not the ones that stand up best to fact-checking. There is never just one-they compete and constantly change. National narratives, like personal ones, are prone to sentimentality, grievance, pride, shame, self-blindness. Nations, like individuals, tell stories in order to understand what they are, where they come from, and what they want to be. A cold war followed, spreading globally and leading to a nuclear standoff.This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. By 1951, Europe was divided into two power blocs, American-led and Soviet-led, each with atomic weapons. Military alliances were formed as the West grouped together as NATO, and the East banded together as the Warsaw Pact. also offered the Marshall Plan, massive aid package aimed at supporting collapsing economies that were letting communist sympathizers gain power. pledging to prevent the communists from extending their power, a process that led to the West supporting some terrible regimes. countered with the Truman Doctrine, with its policy of containment to stop communism spreading-it also turned the world into a giant map of allies and enemies, with the U.S. The West feared a communist invasion, physical and ideological, that would turn them into communist states with a Stalin-style leader-the worst possible option-and for many, it caused fear over the likelihood of mainstream socialism, too.
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