Another root problem is that Americans are very binary thinkers - things are right OR wrong, left OR right, black OR white (or more often white OR NOT white).
Similarly, Americans are polarized binary thinkers - look at any thread. It's the "You're with me OR against me!" fallacy (which has been driven deeper by the oligarchs via their persuasive argument and mindwashing machinery at Fox, Breitbart, etc.)
Very often "I'm not with you" really means "I have a better way to get the same result you want, so quit being obtuse and listen for a minute." But the "You're with me OR against me," means conversation ends, and that benefits the oligarchs, because the peasants are too busy fighting to organize opposition.
Another example - Any one "against Trump" is automatically assumed to be "for Clinton" and a pointless, mindless, emotional tantrum battle begins, and discussion goes out the window. This is, of course, entirely false, as one can be against
both of them. There are legit reasons to choose None of the Above (although, I agree, 2016 is yet-another terrible year to vote conscience, unless you can convince your Trump-supporting friends to vote Johnson, or Stein, instead).
In the same vein, you get social structures. We've been sold on the false dichotomy that "communism" and "socialism" are bad, nevermind the fact that Social Security, Medicare, Disability benefits, requiring hospitals to treat anyone who walks into the emergency room rather than forcibly letting them die on the street just because they can't pay, etc., etc. are "socialist" ideas. In the real world, nothing is binary. Get over it.
And last, and most certainly least, the obligatory joke:
