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RKP5637

(67,109 posts)
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 04:19 PM Dec 2017

"Is America Headed for a New Kind of Civil War?"

As the GOP continues to corner the majority of the population into a dystopia, and the masses finally collectively realize the sellout by the Trump administration and congress, there are going to be a lot of angry people up against the wall. The tensions in the US are high. What a shame. It's clear the GOP wants a major destabilization of the US democracy.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/is-america-headed-for-a-new-kind-of-civil-war

Mines cited five conditions that support his prediction: entrenched national polarization, with no obvious meeting place for resolution; increasingly divisive press coverage and information flows; weakened institutions, notably Congress and the judiciary; a sellout or abandonment of responsibility by political leadership; and the legitimization of violence as the “in” way to either conduct discourse or solve disputes.

A day after the brawling and racist brutality and deaths in Virginia, Governor Terry McAuliffe asked, “How did we get to this place?” The more relevant question after Charlottesville—and other deadly episodes in Ferguson, Charleston, Dallas, St. Paul, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, and Alexandria—is where the United States is headed. How fragile is the Union, our republic, and a country that has long been considered the world’s most stable democracy? The dangers are now bigger than the collective episodes of violence. “The radical right was more successful in entering the political mainstream last year than in half a century,” the Southern Poverty Law Center reported in February. The organization documents more than nine hundred active (and growing) hate groups in the United States.

“We keep saying, ‘It can’t happen here,’ but then, holy smokes, it can,” Mines told me after we talked, on Sunday, about Charlottesville. The pattern of civil strife has evolved worldwide over the past sixty years. Today, few civil wars involve pitched battles from trenches along neat geographic front lines. Many are low-intensity conflicts with episodic violence in constantly moving locales. Mines’s definition of a civil war is large-scale violence that includes a rejection of traditional political authority and requires the National Guard to deal with it. On Saturday, McAuliffe put the National Guard on alert and declared a state of emergency.

Based on his experience in civil wars on three continents, Mines cited five conditions that support his prediction: entrenched national polarization, with no obvious meeting place for resolution; increasingly divisive press coverage and information flows; weakened institutions, notably Congress and the judiciary; a sellout or abandonment of responsibility by political leadership; and the legitimization of violence as the “in” way to either conduct discourse or solve disputes.

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"Is America Headed for a New Kind of Civil War?" (Original Post) RKP5637 Dec 2017 OP
Im not going to sugarcoat it. Its called Balkanization. roamer65 Dec 2017 #1
I think that's very possible. People are becoming more tribal and territorial in nature. RKP5637 Dec 2017 #4
If anyone legitimately thinks genocide is possible ClarendonDem Dec 2017 #6
Yep, this country has some very scary people in it. n/t RKP5637 Dec 2017 #7
Very rich vs. the Poor. A war to determine if we want to become a Third World country jalan48 Dec 2017 #2
Great, more useless statues. Throck Dec 2017 #3
... waiting for Trump to put up a gold statue of himself someplace. n/t RKP5637 Dec 2017 #8
Hot dip him. Throck Dec 2017 #12
Gold is too good for him. n/t RKP5637 Dec 2017 #13
The crazies (like Alex Jones) keep saying if Trump is impeached there will be a Civil War Chasstev365 Dec 2017 #5
This ! nocalflea Dec 2017 #11
Yeah, those RWNJ threats of civil war are beginning to seem pathetic ProudLib72 Dec 2017 #15
Yeah, our nationwide general strikes have been so successful dumbcat Dec 2017 #18
This, most of the country is too comfortable to take action Amishman Dec 2017 #21
I agree. A fuse will light at the next economic crisis. bronxiteforever Dec 2017 #9
Yeah, I think that's what well might happen. Also, this entire stock market feels like a huge bubble RKP5637 Dec 2017 #10
How about a few states? carterb034 Dec 2017 #14
The Civil War Never Really Ended colsohlibgal Dec 2017 #16
Definitely!!! This ass in the WH continuously stokes the coals wanting a fire. n/t RKP5637 Dec 2017 #17
Message auto-removed Name removed Dec 2017 #20
probably and bluestarone Dec 2017 #19

roamer65

(36,745 posts)
1. Im not going to sugarcoat it. Its called Balkanization.
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 04:22 PM
Dec 2017

If it keeps on its current course, it will be very similar to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Times 20, including the genocide.

RKP5637

(67,109 posts)
4. I think that's very possible. People are becoming more tribal and territorial in nature.
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 04:30 PM
Dec 2017

The elements that used to bond the US together are fragmenting and people seem to be regionalizing. And under Trump, for example, it's more about division that uniting.

 

ClarendonDem

(720 posts)
6. If anyone legitimately thinks genocide is possible
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 04:36 PM
Dec 2017

Then they should buy firearms to protect their family.

I didn't think I would see instances of genocide in my adulthood, but Rwanda and Yugoslavia proved me very wrong. And there are posts on far right websites (and even on Facebook) that convinced me there are Americans who would kill fellow Americans simply because of political beliefs, religious beliefs, or sexual preferences. Those are the Roy Moore voters to some extent.

jalan48

(13,869 posts)
2. Very rich vs. the Poor. A war to determine if we want to become a Third World country
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 04:28 PM
Dec 2017

with a few very wealthy individuals controlling the economy and the politics. Think Mexico and Central America.

Chasstev365

(5,191 posts)
5. The crazies (like Alex Jones) keep saying if Trump is impeached there will be a Civil War
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 04:35 PM
Dec 2017

I'd like to say, Hey Assholes; You've got it all wrong!

If Trump and the GOP crimes are allowed to stand, maybe the 70 % of us will collectively stand up and shut this country down until the traitors are brought to justice!

PS: we know you're bad at math, but our 70% is a lot stronger than your 30%!

ProudLib72

(17,984 posts)
15. Yeah, those RWNJ threats of civil war are beginning to seem pathetic
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 06:14 PM
Dec 2017

Six or seven months ago, they seemed a little disconcerting, but now they just make me shrug and say, "Go ahead and try that, motherfuckers". If there was a civil war, I think it would be over pretty quickly and the tRumpturds would be the big losers.

dumbcat

(2,120 posts)
18. Yeah, our nationwide general strikes have been so successful
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 08:32 PM
Dec 2017

maybe we could get .001% of the 70% out on the street.

Amishman

(5,557 posts)
21. This, most of the country is too comfortable to take action
Sun Dec 3, 2017, 08:50 AM
Dec 2017

Barring an economic implosion that rivals the great depression, I don't see people getting off their asses. Those willing to risk criminal charges or worse by rising up is probably low single digits % on each side.

bronxiteforever

(9,287 posts)
9. I agree. A fuse will light at the next economic crisis.
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 04:47 PM
Dec 2017

The GOP tax bill will kill the federal government as a force to stabilize the economy during the inevitable downturn. It will also build a decade long structural deficit into the fed budget so that it won’t be able to provide economic relief to the citizens hurt most.

Imagine 2008 with no federal intervention or aid. And then add a Country paved wall to wall with assault rifles and an endless supply of ammunition. My God what have they done?

RKP5637

(67,109 posts)
10. Yeah, I think that's what well might happen. Also, this entire stock market feels like a huge bubble
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 05:05 PM
Dec 2017

at this point.

 

carterb034

(8 posts)
14. How about a few states?
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 06:05 PM
Dec 2017

Maybe 5-6.

They have to take the entire Trump and Ryan family tree with them and build a wall, paid for of course by Trump. Wait. He doesn't actually have a lot of money. Ok, let's have Ryan chip in.

colsohlibgal

(5,275 posts)
16. The Civil War Never Really Ended
Sat Dec 2, 2017, 07:22 PM
Dec 2017

A century after the Civil War ended LBJ shoved through his Civil Rights Bill. Politically, as he surmised, it turned the south over to the republicans. Racism is still rampant.

We are like two countries molded into one. Electing this narcissistic racist sexist legacy plutocrat has brought all this out in the open, with anti semitism thrown in as a bonus.

We are a mess and who knows what is ahead, most everything that has simmered below the surface is spilling out.

Response to colsohlibgal (Reply #16)

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