Someone had a signature to their message posts on Slashdot that said "I like paying taxes, with them I buy civilization." I also saw a bumper sticker on a 4x4 truck that said "If you don't like socialism then get off the road".

I don't know exactly when it happened, I think it pre-dated the election of President Obama, but at some point we stopped being a civil society. I blame the 24 hour news cycle for a lot of the political polarization of our country, and that, coupled with people not willing to think critically or look for attribution of crap sent around the internet, is probably 90% of the trouble that the USA has.