Contemporary America is steeped in nostalgia, consumerism, conflict, and contradictions. We live in a time of change, shifting ideologies, changing cultural norms, and the eroding of traditional pillars of power. A time when people fear communication because it may lead to conflicts over differences. This has led to an ever-expanding, divisive society intolerant of conflicting points of view. How did a society constructed on innumerable ideologies, one that once lovingly and enthusiastically referred to itself as a melting pot, a place where differences where embraced and valued, degenerate into the divided society of today? My research has been directed at finding and understanding the forces that has led us to our current state.