This week we all watched the Ukrainian people school the world in what valour and courage means.

Analysts expected the country to fall to overwhelming Russian numbers before the weekend was out, but as of writing Ukraine still remains an independent state.

With their grit, they have shamed western governments into sending as much assistance as legally possible. In cyberspace, Anonymous has declared open season on RussiaSA国际影视传媒檚 networks, showing internet trolls how itSA国际影视传媒檚 done.

This global grassroots response to the invasion should be a wake-up call for all of us, because weSA国际影视传媒檝e spent the last half-century undermining ourselves.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, western capitalist nations suddenly found a huge void where their nemesis had been. This void was not empty for very long, however. In Canada, the United States and elsewhere, our focus very quickly shifted to the real enemy - each other.

You donSA国际影视传媒檛 have to look very hard in Canadian media to see what ISA国际影视传媒檓 talking about. There are many columnists who have made entire careers telling us everything thatSA国际影视传媒檚 wrong with the other side, be that conservative, liberal, socialist, easterner, immigrant, rich, environmentalist, baby-boomer, or millennial. With the onset of the internet and social media, these ideas have found strong niche markets, full of readers able to separate themselves from information that may contradict their preferred opinions, to the point where we now appear to have two entirely different versions of reality. The results speak for themselves.

If there was one common, coherent message from the convoy-blockade protests of the past few weeks, it was that they absolutely despised Justin Trudeau and compared him to Adolf Hitler. While itSA国际影视传媒檚 certainly debatable if Trudeau is as SA国际影视传媒榳okeSA国际影视传媒� as he markets himself politically, heSA国际影视传媒檚 got as much in common with Hitler as a rock has to a seagull. It is a level of overheated rhetoric that would have been shot down immediately during the Cold War. But weSA国际影视传媒檝e become so used to calling each other enemies of the state, these nonsensical comparisons arenSA国际影视传媒檛 even shocking anymore.

Now, in the face of an actual enemy, there is hardly an ounce of trust between the left and right, sadly for good reasons SA国际影视传媒� in the U.S. 2016 election the Republicans even benefited from Russian interference. Many on the right still question the legitimacy of the 2020 election, even though itSA国际影视传媒檚 been proven well beyond doubt. None of this helps the west organize a coherent and effective response to the challenge it now faces.

On the left, rhetoric is similarly overcharged past any level of usefulness. Far too many people have lost their jobs in online lynchings over relatively minor missteps, with the court of public opinion branding them sexist, racist or worse. This only pushes people to the defensive, preventing any meaningful dialogue that could actually move these issues towards resolution. We collectively love arguing and hate solutions.

Right now, our politics are so overheated we canSA国际影视传媒檛 even have a functional debate on key issues like climate change, let alone stand up to a determined attacker who has clearly had us in his crosshairs for some time.

SA国际影视传媒淒ivide and conquerSA国际影视传媒� is the foundation of all military victories SA国际影视传媒� weSA国际影视传媒檙e about as divided as we can get. We need to find a way to be friends again SA国际影视传媒� and fast.