trying to wrap my head around why everything in the US is turned into a political battle--from the most trivial culture war stuff to major national crises such as the response to COVID-19. Is it a Gramscian thing where a ruling class in crisis is unable to maintain ideological hegemony?
I would argue that if youre in the United States at least, its in large part due to the two-party system we have running.
If one side takes a stance on anything, the other feels like they "have to" oppose it. If democrats say that diversity is good, for example, republicans say its bad so that they can snatch up all the voters who dont like that idea. Obviously on a societal level there are wayyyyyyy more factors involved (lobbying, propaganda, etc), but overall I would say the two party system is what encourages politicization of non political things for your "average joe".