America's Second Civil War

Is the subject of the first season of a podcast called It Could Happen Here. Before anyone starts screaming about how this podcast is clearly demonizing a certain political viewpoint, let me stop you right there. The host of the podcast, Robert Evans, takes great pains to show how folks on any particular political side you care to think about could be responsible for starting a second civil war in the US. It's a nine-part series, and the first three episodes are currently up. It's definitely an interesting listen, because, again, he doesn't claim that a second civil war is certain, or that a particular group will be responsible for it. To boil it down simply (so far as he's covered to this point), there are a number of factors in current American society which prime the pump for a second civil war to erupt, the question is (at least according to him): Who will be the group that tips America into civil war? And no, he doesn't say that it's most likely to be those on the left or the right who will do it. He discusses what things might cause those on the left or the right to lead us into civil war. You think that Antifa might do it? He talks about the things that they could do which would tip us in that direction. You think that it might be racists or the various militia movements? He talks about the things that they could do which would send us into civil war. You think that it might be a militarized police force? Yup, he talks about what they might do that leads us to civil war.

The next civil war is going to be fought by private armies run by the wealthy after society collapses in 50-100 years with the onset of one crises after the next due to climate change. The Pinkertons are busy prepping the wealthy for scenarios where their agents would, for example, defend the wealthy's horde of water and food once those become scarce.

So yeah, private armies ran by the wealthy. Not too different from some of the wars in the Medieval era, just with better weapons.

Well, whatever ultimately causes it, we're pretty ripe for it.

The country is polarized almost 50/50, the arguments have gotten very bitter (even occasionally violent), and everything these days is politicized, even the stuff like sports and entertainment that used to be 'safe' common ground that brought us all together. We've also got way too many 'one-issue' citizens, and I'm probably guilty of that myself. Guns are my 'die on the front porch' red line-I'll never give mine up, even just as a matter of principle.

Like Col. T.C. McQueen says in SAAB: "What would you die for?"

It already happened in 2016.

See? Explained by Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. You're not fooling anyone.

The single most polarizing thing in the last 50 years was Reagan killing the fairness doctrine. That is what allowed the creation of right wing hate radio followed by left and right wing media.

Without the hate shows we would still poll a lot more like Canada instead of pulling more towards the extremes. Restore the fairness doctrine and you'll see the extremists deminish over time.

There will never be another Civil War in the United States. Forget slavery. Arguing the most immediate contributing factor to the American Civil War was sectionalism. A factor non existent today.

Another thing is that while we call it a "civil war" the American Civil War was not fought like civil wars in most countries. Although some southerners used to enjoy calling it the "War of Southern Succession", the way it was fought was largely along those lines. Something virtually impossible today.

Americans are too lazy to fight another civil war.

Just feed them a steady diet of Kardashians and they’ll stay glued to their TVs and phones, complacent and happy.

I've been thinking a second civil war is coming for several years.The left is purposely diving people, talk radio is dividing people, cable news is dividing people, Trump is dividing people, something is going to break, it's just a matter of time. I look at Trump as the Buchanan of our times, the question is, who will be Lincoln?

It's creeping in here as well... our neo-con/alt right is on the rise, especially outside of cities. Over the last decade they've really gone all out on media/propaganda... even so far as to set up both private and party news channels (Rebel Media and DoFo's "Ontario News", for instance).

It's the business model of the "news" media - clickbait stories generate revenues, fear and anger-driven news items generate clicks.

But the lie has been revealed, more and more people are seeing through it now, so the lies posing as "news" will fool fewer and fewer people. And from the data I've seen, unreliable as those data might be, there are comparatively few people at the polar opposites (maybe 10 per cent of total population each at far left and far right poles). Those at the poles are just much louder than most people, and it only takes a few screaming ninnies to rally up a mob on social media to push a distorted view of reality to generate a frenzy of idiots into a lynch mob. There are still many cowards who remain silent in the face of the insanity, but some are starting to speak up.

Eventually we'll probably end up with something like a negative income tax/UBI, that consists basically of weed and video games for a large chunk of the masses least capable of being productive in the future economy.

I have to laugh at the idea Americans would trash their 5g infrastructure and lose their wifi over some differences is laughable. In a war you hit the utilities because they allow your enemy to make harder war. You take electricity, communications, and media from American people and they would string whoever it was who started it up from the town center in unity. You would have MAGAts and Vegan hippies working together to get their Iphones working again.

So you admit you are a crazy extremist who very few side with and should listen to. You admit you have no power and are just a small loud percentage of the population.

Yes, we knew that, but we did not know you were so self aware.

it will be Colonel Mustard in the dining room with a lead pipe. It's in the bible....somewhere towards the back I think.

This is why I hate political ideology.

It's mostly a masturbatory fantasy for those who want to kill others for disagreeing with them. Generally the extremists on the fringe, although the President keeps alluding to it as a warning against opposing him. But he's a pathetic moron.

Actually it'll be @Tererun with a crack pipe in the girls room. It's in the koran.

Like you've ever been in the same room as a Koran.

On a related note, this might be an important safety tip from Egon.

There is approximately zero chance of another U.S. Civil War. The only civil war we had was driven by a huge factor that is no longer in play at all in the U.S. And that is regionalism/sectionalism.

Honey, we still have rapant unchecked capitalism, so....

You have something to actually contribute besides a stupid emoticon?

AGAINST GINGERS?

Therefore no civil war could happen along other lines?

Wouldn't carrying around liquid nitrogen be dangerous in such an environment? I guess it would evaporate if spilled, but I would think enough of it would cause burns if spilled. I guess it would flash freeze the grenade, but I would say that is somewhat dangerous.

It does offer up an interesting idea for using a liquid CO2 system for flash freezing a tear gas grenade quickly. If you used a carbon fiber nitroduck HPA tank that would hold a decent amount of liquid, and a siphon tube you could quickly freeze down a grenade with a focused nozzle. That could be dangerously weaponized for a close ranged instant freeze burn device. I would say it would have a similar effect on the grenade with just a second or two more time required. You could also easily make a bunch of them, and they would be far better contained and safe. I would say maybe 250 dollars per device with easy to find parts and valves. Even the fill would be far less costly than liquid nitrogen and you could even have a fill station available somewhere behind the front lines. The only real problem would be the jet of expanding gas would easily push the grenade out of the effective area so you would have to have something that would hold the grenade in place while the CO2 froze it.

I know it is probably a spelling error, but rapant capitalism seems a bit fitting.

Do you have something to contribute aside from your stupid irrational thoughts?

I thought not, carry on.