I've read a huge amount of philosophical works stretching back to antiquity. The ruling class has long used a technique of dividing and conquering people.

The current left/right split is very clearly manufactured. And you can see this in reading literature from the 1800s to present. The split is abundantly clear if you look at the logic text books.

The US Founders studied logic taught by Arnauld and Watts. This approach teaches people how to engage in civil discourse.

Today, people are studying logic taught by Kant, Hegel, Russell, etc.. This approach teaches people how to manipulate conflict for political gain.