I've thought a lot about writing something related to the US elections tomorrow (for me it's tomorrow). I couldn't really think of a sufficient way to construct it, but I wanted to focus around the theme of extreme division. I'm not American so I obviously have no vote, but I do have an outsider perspective which can often be as valuable as an insider one.

In many ways, this couldn't be truer than in this election. Americans are so hyper-focused on perpetuating their own tribes that they more often than not can't see the forest for the trees.

I never joined either of the two tribes. Similarly to British politics (although not to the same extreme) US politics is ultimately the same ice cream with different sprinkles on top.

So for me, it's quite easy to expose myself to the vices and virtues on Democrats and Republicans at a pretty even rate. Even if I was, say, a 'MAGA mad lad', I'd still be quite content to sit down and listen to Harris, or actively search to fact check or get some bigger context to see why people would support the thing that goes against my beliefs - I have no skin in the game one way or the other.

I sat down and spent 3 hours listening to Trump ramble on with Joe Rogan (over a few days) specifically with the goal of hearing things directly from his mouth. Not so much out of policy and clarity but to hear how he talks about certain things, how to jives in a podcast, unscripted environment without a big audience egging on his mega-ego, without biased journalists giving him fuel to angrily call fake news.

Just, let him talk.

I waited to do the same with Harris but apparently she was turned down because her team only wanted an hour, and Joe had to go to her, which is not part of the agreement.

I watched clips of Harris and her supporters to get an idea of what kind of people go for her. I saw a few interviews and rallies, I watched the most unbiased people I knew summarize these things such as their debates.

I've listened to economists debunk, dismantle or verify each team's economic policies, and I've listened to historians and other intellects breakdown their political precedent regarding their stance and actions on war, immigration, religion, freedom, firearms, crime, corruption, and more.

My conclusion overall is that both sides are utterly messed up blind. Both sides are saying, all over the internet:

This is the most important in history

This could be the last election of our lives

This election could make or break our civilisation as we know it

Oh now come on, people. The very idea that whether Democrats or Republicans get into power will throw the US into some despotic hell hole dictatorship is just a joke, from an outsider perspective.

Americans don't expose themselves to both sides as people like I do. They only expose themselves to the content they feel safe with. That's not to say they feel good about hearing everything terrible the other side has done, but they feel validated by it, they feel like their fear is part of a collective fear that the perceived majority feel. They feel at home in that anxiety, like watching a horror movie with your friends.

But they never watch the horror movie from the perspective of the crazed axe murderer. If they did, they might find that he was just trying to return the Axe after borrowing it to chop some wood.

People who have lived in a robust democracy like the USA their whole lives should have learnt by now a few basic things:

• The checks and balances have prevented anything apocalyptic happening
• Democracies aren't perfect
• Corruption is possible and prevalent at all times, but less so than anywhere else.
• Politicians, once in power, tend to backtrack and compromise on things they say to get in power
• People are going to be hurt, lives ruined, or even die as a result of the decisions - or lack of decisions - made by those in power. It's tragic, but inevitable - no matter who, because there is often no perfect choice.
• Their team will demonise their opponents and everything should be taken with a grain of salt
• All sides are in cahoots with bad people, regardless of whether or not you want to believe it.

It's fine. It's normal. No leader is who you think they are. They're all a concoction of good, bad and ugly.

Take Obama as an example. The mainstream narrative and consensus is generally he was one of the best, right? Charming, educated, charismatic, a family man in a time of peace... something about drones or whatever... and a true symbol of diversity and democracy.

Putting aside the thousands of civilian deaths as a result of his drone initiatives, he also believed marriage should be between a man and a woman - something he said repeatedly until it was unpopular after a couple of years, when he flipped on this.

Now, he is championed as a progressive leader. How convenient for him!

Obama implemented a record number of deportations - far more than Trump in the same duration. Incidentally, the Biden administration, is on track to match - if not already surpassed - Trump's deportation numbers. I think maybe George Bush surpassed Obama's figures in one term.

Obama's interventionist policies in Libya lead to significantly terrible long-term consequences, such as mass instability and the rise of terrorist organisations such as ISIS. Anybody who remembers the footage coming out from those guys would question whether this was a good thing. The same can be said for his interventions in Syria.

There's many more to consider that smarter people than I could point to, but it's clear that the glistening sheen of Obama's ever-charming smile and calm, rational rhetoric comes with plenty of dark, terrible secrets.

And, on the flip side, it's just as easy to justify these actions, to point to all the good they did, or excuse them in the greater picture. mistakes were made, lessons were learned.

Americans, so absorbed in their clique, are seemingly incapable of seeing the appeal of their opponents. even though literally half the country support either one. Americans are absolutely prepared to simply dismiss 50% of the entire nation of voters - 80 million people - as stupid, or evil, or fascist, or racist, or communist, or insane, or morally bankrupt, or sexist, or bigoted, or garbage, or brainwashed.

And I think the saddest thing is, everybody in the US is too scared to dip their toes in the other side to find out. If a Harris supporter is found to have a search history looking into Trump, they could get immediately ostracized by their families, their friends, they could descend into a huge fight with their partners, or sour the office environment at work.

And yet, after Trump, and now after Biden, the US is still perfectly fine. It has some significant problems to deal with, sure, but far less in number and impact than what the rest of the world is going through. At points, the US surpassed even China in economic growth, for example.

Many of the USA's biggest problems are bipartisan, and unfortunately not solved under any leadership: Gun crime, lower than normal life expectancy, high medical bills, overworking culture, mental illness & suicide, inequality, homelessness.

Some of these may improve or diminish under this or that leadership for 4 years - of course there are different outcomes per leadership - but then, the next leader will improve those while diminishing others.

Just because you don't consider one thing as important as another doesn't mean it's objectively not important.

The entire American society is frothing at the mouth, looking for enemies, looking for people who disagree with them so they can attack, in a vain hope to make themselves feel better for 'outing a bad guy'. It's like the frickin' Salem Witch trials.

I guess my point is, Americans should go vote for whoever they want, and then they should go and celebrate with a coffee or some beers with people who voted differently. They should laugh and joke about each other's decisions without spiralling into a fist fight and breaking up their relationships, further pushing each other into isolated corners.

Embrace the cognitive dissonance, ask questions, agree to disagree, have a good time and get on with your day. America is not going down the toilet, no matter who you vote for. I mean, you get to vote. That in itself is a delicacy most the world does not get to enjoy. The winner's policies will be but a blip in the history of the nation.

That's quite a nice thing.