Thursday 17 August 2017

Is Civil War in Trump-Era America Inevitable?

Civil war maybe a bit of an exaggeration. But something not far off that.

There is definitely a foreboding air of inevitability at the moment in the US. I had a crazy daydream that eventually Trump will need the threat of another civil war in order to stay in power. He'll need a situation so critical and dangerously loaded  that any idea of removing him from office at that time could be the spark that sets things off. At that point he will become the ideal person and only person capable of quelling the rage his loyal followers will want to unleash.

It took something like Charlottesville to force Trump into overtly showing his cards. He knows he would be finished if he didn't at least send some sort of signal of solidarity to the white nationalist's/sympathizers as they constitute a high percentage of base.

As long as he can satisfy his base by saying what they want him to say - he doesn't necessarily have to act upon what he says - but as long as the ideas his loyal supporters like to hear keep circulating, they stay emboldened, they stay relevant and have purpose going forward, which is why they will do absolutely anything to keep him there. Part of their identity is at stake and they're past the point of no return now in terms of how low Trump can go yet still receive their support. They have Trump's back no matter what.

This is where the daydream went a bit OTT

There'll be a last stand. Evangelicals will tie the narrative of how events play out into biblical prophecy and see the threat of civil war as an of end of days scenario, something which they have been preparing for and almost hoping would happen for millennia. An event which simultaneously annihilates humankind but provides them more importantly with the validation that their faith wasn't in vain.

As things stand now, I don't see a way out of this situation unless the tension which has reached ridiculous levels is released in a massive way.

It would seem from watching mainstream news that the memory of Nazism has faded to the point where the warning to future generations it left us has disappeared. I'm worried that humankind has to create another reason for us to have a period of real peace, and the best way it seems to achieve peace time is by having a war and then reflecting for a long time on how evil and wrong it is.

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