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Because of these two polarized political factions, I think they are using legislation, smears, and outright lies to get people to polarize and join their causes. And, I do believe they are succeeding.
Maybe politicians probably know Americans have grown too smart to fall for a foreign war in bad economic times. However, a civil war could serve the same purpose, i.e., offer camouflage for bad policies and/or failed leadership. I think most Americans, however, also would quickly realize that any major civil unrest would accentuate a failure in leadership.
But to answer your question about the possibility of a civil war, I say no. It only appears that way from our west Texas perspectives.
I have seen the word Polarized tossed around much within the last few years! I feel the so-called mediator is the culprit! Speaking to both on your Left and Right;only whispering to the Left and chuckling with those on the Right and Vice versa. It appears this Polarization has been in the making for decades. I could be off but I feel we as the people have become so watered down with PC words,soften up our military, the men,and degrading our masculinity. It is easier to take from or control submissive minds. Their are few Men in the word but tons of Dudes! Take our views on sports within the decade, look at the acceptance of men straight\homo-sexual with feminine charcteristic. Our military was always for the strong until some cried to mommy the Drill Intructors were to cruel.So mommy contacts Congress and before you know it we have a diluted fighting force. Children in sports everyone is a winner,all kids get trophies. Taking the drive to excel out of the youth. They've nicked the aggressive artery and dilated the passive veins and sat while we submissively (manipulated) march to a Polarized generation. Civil War;no way! We have leaders among the people but not enough followers with intestinal fortitude to carry out such a War.
Mass media has made us too homogenous to descend into civil war. But I wouldn't be suprised if the U.S. at some point in the next half century splintered into separate countries through a peaceful, political process. Religious and political division from one corner of the country to another has created a situation where people are really resenting one end of the country determining the political fate of another.
So, this all goes to my question (in the subject line), with America as polarized as it is, and the increasing polarization that happens every day, do you believe we are headed towards another civil war? If so, what can we do to prevent it? If not, why not (do you disagree we're more polarized as a nation now than we have been in recent times (last 100 years)?
No, I do not believe we are headed towards another civil war.
Regarding polarization, I think we are a bit more polarized than in the past, but not as much as shown in national election results. The problem we currently have is that the primaries are structured so that those more extreme on both sides of the discussion tend to have the loudest voices. Moderates tend to split between parties, or join neither. The massive expansion of media the past couple of decades, cable TV and internet, has exacerbated this problem by providing more outlets to bombard with their issues.
I think that the current economic situation, which results in more jobs being lost to automation and international competition, has contributed to a ratcheting up in the polarization we see today. However, if we ever get some intelligent approaches to job creation I think we'll see this die down a bit.
Regarding civil wars, generally I believe you'll see this when folks have little to lose. Today, those who are in miserable financial situations generally still have a roof over their head, heat and air conditioning (or really big fans), adequate food to eat, at least minimal medical care and lots of stuff to keep them amused.
I just don't think this translates to eventual civil war.
Op needs to read more history of politics.In fact read more on politics of the past and perhaps ypou weill learn that never before have the people had as much voive in now the country is run.At one time things were lierally run From backroom as is true in many countries still.
In a side note to this, my daughter is in the marching band in high school. Last night, my wife and I showed up a little early to pick her up, and decided to walk to the bleachers and watch them. I was very disappointed in what I saw.
When the teachers (there were multiple teachers there, from both middle schools that feed the high school as well as the high school band teacher himself). And no matter what they (the teachers said), there was a large majority of students who did what they wanted to anyway. For example, if the teacher said: "Take it from here to here, that should be no more than 8 steps, then stop." Most would take a LOT more steps. This isn't kindergarten where they couldn't count, and we're 6 weeks of practice into the routines, not 6 hours. And, when the students stopped, they would immediately start talking amongst themselves regardless of how hard the teachers tried to get them to stop talking.
Overheard quite often was: "You can't tell me what to do, you're not my mother/father!" or "Don't tell me what to do!" or the best we heard: "Don't talk to me that way, you have to respect me!"
Later on the way home, I was asking my daughter about respect. I asked her what the kids her age are thinking when they say things like that. She said that many of them feel like they have to get respect before they give it; to which I replied, "well, if two kids are talking and feel like they have to get respect before they give it, how do you break the stalemate?" She thought for a while and said: "I don't know."
I have tried to raise my three kids to respect authority (adults, teachers, law enforcement, etc.). Have had told them that they have to normally give something before they get something back. That is what I was taught by my mother, and most of my friends were taught the same thing. But that is obviously not the mindset of all adults today, and definitely not the thoughts of most of those kids I saw on the field last night.
I guess the point I'm trying to make to tie this in with my topic is that if we aren't teaching other generations to give respect to everyone first (not that they will deserve it forever), and to respect appropriate authorities, how are they going to deal with the issues that we deal with as adults that are leading our country (in my opinion) down a path I'm not sure how we'll recover from? If we're not teaching them common courtesy, giving respect before it's received, and other crucial social skills, we may well be dooming our own future and the society that we're raising without those skills.
These kids have been given a politically corrupt nation by the older generation that is on the brink of collapse, they also know due to the older generations blunders college is now a waste of money for most people there age and not an investment. The environment is messed up and they don't even know if the world will be able to support human life for much longer. More than half of them come from broken homes and a third of them don't have fathers.
They have been given zero respect by authority figures in there life sense birth and there maturing to the age where they are finally able to understand that so how can you blame them for being disrespectfull. Blame there parents who never have and still don't give a crap about them, which has been the "in" thing to do for the past 20 years.
The wealth of the US is now concentrated in the top 1%. These people that have accumulated this wealth are not investing in the US but instead in overseas concerns or stashing their money in off shore accounts. At the same time they have managed to lobby and control the government that is now protecting their wealth at the expense of the working class American. When any individual of any society can no longer find a way to support themselves or their families then they will turn to crimes of necessity first and violence against the group that suppressed them. It would not be a civil war but instead a revolution.
We have witnessed what happened in the middle east and can see the beginnings of a similar movement in the US. The determining question will be how the US handles the protesters. IMO, they will react with full force riot police using LRAD, water cannons, rubber bullets, tasers, and tear gas. The end result will be a violent backlash. The greatest fear of the federal government is that Americans possess massive amounts of firearms. The more the republicans act to pad the pockets of the rich by placing the financial burden of the country on the middle class the greater the revolt. We witnessed the police and military in the middle east siding with those protesters. Those same groups, the police and military, have also been a major target of the republicans. The police have had their ranks reduced, and also firemen), salaries cut, and benefits destroyed. Why would they defend the people that did this to them and continue to make it worse? The police and military will join the revolution in the end.
There are many here that are trying to spin the old "communist" theme calling anyone who protests a socialist. As Americans we have the right to protest. I respect that right. Don't you?
We are the plenty yet we tuck our tails as if we're the few. Government works for us. Somehow we have blurred the lines between "OUR" Governments' task. Sometimes you just need a slap aside your head to retrieve the foucus.
So, this all goes to my question (in the subject line), with America as polarized as it is, and the increasing polarization that happens every day, do you believe we are headed towards another civil war? If so, what can we do to prevent it? If not, why not (do you disagree we're more polarized as a nation now than we have been in recent times (last 100 years)?
No, because polarization is not enough to start a war, and because no State, or group of States, has the ability to form and maintain a military force competent enough to reasonably challange the professional forces of the United States.
The wealth of the US is now concentrated in the top 1%. These people that have accumulated this wealth are not investing in the US but instead in overseas concerns or stashing their money in off shore accounts. At the same time they have managed to lobby and control the government that is now protecting their wealth at the expense of the working class American. When any individual of any society can no longer find a way to support themselves or their families then they will turn to crimes of necessity first and violence against the group that suppressed them. It would not be a civil war but instead a revolution.
We have witnessed what happened in the middle east and can see the beginnings of a similar movement in the US. The determining question will be how the US handles the protesters. IMO, they will react with full force riot police using LRAD, water cannons, rubber bullets, tasers, and tear gas. The end result will be a violent backlash. The greatest fear of the federal government is that Americans possess massive amounts of firearms. The more the republicans act to pad the pockets of the rich by placing the financial burden of the country on the middle class the greater the revolt. We witnessed the police and military in the middle east siding with those protesters. Those same groups, the police and military, have also been a major target of the republicans. The police have had their ranks reduced, and also firemen), salaries cut, and benefits destroyed. Why would they defend the people that did this to them and continue to make it worse? The police and military will join the revolution in the end.
There are many here that are trying to spin the old "communist" theme calling anyone who protests a socialist. As Americans we have the right to protest. I respect that right. Don't you?
I completely agree, except that I don't see "their" government reacting with full force riot police using LRAD, water cannons, rubber bullets, tasers, and tear gas. They will cave....at least enough to avoid major armed conflict in the streets....and we're already seeing a change in tone of some political candidate rhetoric on the OWS protestors.
They know - and everyone capable of reaching deep into their soul knows - that the protestors are on the moral right side of this issue. The party is over for the sociopathic rich - and the handwriting is on the wall.
Anyway, thanks for a great post. +1
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