In the name of all that is holy, please let the words to come be a warning to the fragile state of our political society, not a prophecy of things to come.
A short while ago at work, the ignorant people that I work with had landed on the topic (yet again) of race. Toward the end, as our break was ending, a 60 year old technician named Lee spoke up and said "There is another Civil War coming. This time it's gonna be between the blacks and the damned Mexicans though." as the day wore on, his words spoke to me continually, and I began to really think about a topic I have been theorizing upon on and off since 2008. As I thought more about this topic, I began to realize that Lee may be partially right. If we don't start watching our actions and hatred, a second civil war may be on the horizon, but it most likely won't have anything to do with race.
There has been a growing trend going on in our country for quite some time. I first really noticed it surrounding the 2008 election, but now that I have looked back further, the trend really started right around 2001. Republicans and Democrats are leveling out in numbers....and they are polarizing in beliefs. This last time around, physical fights were breaking out near polling places and people were denying friends and family members over the way they were going to vote. Social media doesn't help at all, sending out memes propaganda furthering the hatred between both sides. It's seriously harder and harder to be moderate when everyone around you is in a game of he said she said. I've warned about this effect numerous times in real life and a couple times in my blog here. The only way we are going to get anything done is by willingly conceding to the other side every once in a while. But how can we ever do that when people like Rush Limbaugh and Lenny Palmer keep throwing their slander to the other side and breeding ignorant hatred in the masses. This is going to be the spark that lights the fuse that blows this country apart.
Now I can't really discuss this without pointing out a small side theory I have formulated. Now, this borders on conspiracy paranoia, and I don't know if any of this is true. What I do know is that I have seen evidence to support this. Anyone who has seen the prequal trilogy to Star Wars knows a good amount of what is gonna be here. In the prequal trilogy, One man (although it was unknown until close to Episode III that it was the same man) spent most of the three movies reporting to both sides of the conflict that was going on around the galaxy, feeding both sides information and misinformation about the state of the other to breed hatred against the two. It seemed that the Jedi, the separatists, and the senators were constantly catching another faction in a betrayal conveniently, finally concluding in the mass extermination of the Jedi for treason against the Galactic Senate. Now....other than the lie to Anakin about being weak and dying, Chancellor Palpatine never actually did lie to anyone in the the government or the army, or the leaders of the outer rim colonies. Everything he said to incite the bitterness was the truth. He simply revealed just enough of the truth to draw emotion, and hid most of it. With talk radio extremists on both sides and especially through social media, I see a lot of this happening in our time and locale now. Does anyone else thing it's a coincidence that each side's official facebook fanpage is entitled "Being...." (Being Conservative and Being Liberal)?? Now, the difference I see right now is that Chancellor Palpatine was the Head of State for the main governing body, while I don't feel like it can be Obama that is pulling the strings in this escapade, nor do I believe that it is Bush or Romney. I want to make that abundantly clear, because I don't want this writing to reach the masses, and consequently incite a witch-hunt against an innocent man. I should hope that in the honor of due process, if this effect should be discovered and investigated, that it is done discreetly and fairly, before we are actually looking down events that came to me as I played out the situation in my head over and over again.
Now, as tensions rise and each side continually accuses the other of trying to wreck the economy and the world for the people of the other side, the distance between liberal and conservative will grow wider. Families will be torn apart at the seams and most opposing friends will grow to hate each other. I don't know who will strike first, but I can see how it will happen. Through word of mouth and people networking among themselves, one side will come up with a "safe word" and a marker of sorts. This may be a coin or token that all members of that side carry, or it may be a tattoo of sorts. Whatever it is, it will be quickly and discreetly distributed among followers of whichever side organizes, and will initially be recognized by only members of that faction. It's intended purpose will be to appear as a simple fad or fashion statement, but it will act as a safe marker for the first strike. This first strike will be one of the bloodiest battles on US soil in history, but it will soon be overshadowed by the ones to come. The reason it will be so bloody is because, unlike the first time, there are no geographical barriers or borders. Republicans and Democrats live among each other in cities and towns across the country, so the uprising will be sudden and bloody. As the uprising happens across the nation, cities scattered among the country will be captured and declared as territory for either side. This will be the beginning. The next series of bloody battles will be about migration. There will be an ebb and flow as cities attack each other and band together. Eventually each side will take cities and band together and start to gather into two places. There are a few ways this could go, but I do believe that the classic Mason Dixon line will strategically be used. It's already well known, and DC is in such a place that it can still be used as the capitol for whichever side happens to be in power when all this goes down. However the population is distributed, once the people have gathered with their respective allies, the side which isn't in power at the time (like if this happened tomorrow, the Republicans, since Obama is a Democratic leader) will secede from the Union. And for the moment, there will be peace.
Now, to take the traditional roles of the voters in each side into consideration, this peace will soon break. The big business and a lot of the foreign relations will go with the Republicans, along with a lot of the ideals of capitalism, while a lot of the manpower, including the knowledge of public services, and manufacturing will stay with the Democrats. There will still be both types of people on either side, but the majority of both classes that I listed will stay with their traditional backers. So, as the Republican States of America choke out the number of people that their opposition can sell their products to, as well as other strategic ways of economic damage, the Democratic States of America will choke out the manufactured goods that go to the other side in an attempt to starve them out. Either way, this will lead to the second outbreak.
Now, as both sides antagonize each other, stress will rise, and eventually this will lead to the first attack. Again, I don't know who will strike first, or where. But either a bank or a factory will become the target of desire and will launch the spark that ignites this great country. While the Republicans will have the advantages of education for strategies, and a greater love for guns, therefore presumably better armed, and the financial advantages which will help them in foreign policies, the DSA will almost equally cancel out the advantages. While, according the popular vote from this past election, the Democrats outnumber the Republicans by less than 1% among voting Americans, the type of people who will migrate to either side will be very different. The stereotypical social elite of the Republican side will take up arms to defend their beliefs, but they will be hesitant to go to the front line, where as the working class of the DSA will use their union experience to band together and rise up against their opposition, gladly taking the front line as long as all their friends are with them. Also, while the RSA will retain their guns with pride, this being one of their strongest beliefs right now, the factories of the Democratic states, staffed with these same eager union workers, will tirelessly pump out more and more ammunition faster than the Republicans could ever.
While there is no way of seeing who starts this conflict, there is less information on who ends it. The lack of major advantage will lead to stalemate, and I see it ending in three ways. Firstly, we end it the same way we did the first time. One side will develop a mild advantage, but both Generals will sign a treaty and end the war before it can be used. We are all Americans after all...we can bury the hatchet. Secondly, the horrifying. One side resorts to a weapon of mass destruction and commits genocide on people who used to be his friends and neighbors. This is highly unlikely, but a scary thought either way.
Lastly, in our weakness, another country comes in during our weakness, and invades or allies with one side, and in the chaos, attempts an overthrow of the United States. Either they succeed, and we become a territory of another nation (highly unlikely), or the attack causes us to put aside our differences, but we revert to military rule, and carry it to a monarchist rule (I don't want to say imperial, but same idea), and the ruler who brings us to peace is cheered and allowed to hold rule for life. While I realize this is an idea stemming from the Star Wars observation I made earlier, it is an eerie thought either way, and fully within the span of human nature.
The main point I want to make with this article is that however this ends, the middle is stained with American blood painting horrific images of families and friends killing each other. None of this has to happen, and I want to raise awareness, and help people look through the propaganda. Let's reach across the aisle and help each other, instead of hating. Citizens, remember that you are all American before you are Republican and Democrat. Politicians, remember that it is your job to help the people you represent, not your party's agenda, so do a little listening and let's all work together to make this a better place for us all to live together. Let's rebuild this great nation and bring ourselves back to the fortunes and freedoms we all shared in the 80s and 90s. We'll rebuild it together, and enjoy it together
