Personally I think COVID disproved this hypothesis. The part of the movie where the aliens land and attack us all, regardless of identity, did happen. The unifying did not.

I think we have to find a way to peacefully and productively coexist as a multiplicity of tribes.

COVID showed that it occurs when we are a politically fragmented society with sprawling wealth inequality.

COVID didn't break us. It showed us were our weak points are.

We _choose_ what unifies us.

Hmm, that is interesting, but I think about this like, the failure to make the vaccine open source or generally available, the polarization around masks and every COVID measure, and how we are still not rallying around existential problems like climate.

But perhaps this is a United States bias on my part?