Posted on 11/15/2025 5:39:53 AM PST by MtnClimber
Glenn Beck recently referred to an important point made by Joe Rogan, in that with the left celebrating political violence, we may have reached his step seven of nine in the lead-up to civil war.
Note that each one of these builds on the previous step in breaking down our society.
And we might as well dispense with the notion that 'both sides' are equally at fault.
While that may sound magnanimous, it doesn't square with the present reality, because it should be obvious that most of one side would like to bring down our society, while the other would prefer to conserve it.
According to Beck, the first step is the loss of civic trust.
The breeding of civil conflict begins when people lose trust in the fairness of the system. We've seen this at all levels of present-day political discourse, and it has become far worse over the past few years.
Step two is a polarization hardens into identity.
Some political polarization is normal, and in the past, people would simply agree to disagree. Now, however, such differences have become rigid identities that people internalize. This shift has been driven by those who attempt to insert politics into every aspect of daily life, from the sports teams we support to the vehicles we drive. As a result, one side has escalated the culture into a multi-front conflict that feels inescapable.
Thus, everyone is constantly reminded as to who they are on the political divide, with no break in the action. Politics used to only be one aspect of life, and you could ignore it with work, sports, or hobbies. But that has all changed, now that one side insists that you be mindful of everything you do.
Making it very difficult to separate what should be
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Understand that now, AntiFA is under deconstruction— identifying financial support and foreign leaders. It is a major effort. Soon some mission critical busts will be conducted, and/or some wet work if there is true justice. Along the lines of the “Sword of Gideon” in response to the Red Brigade post Munich Olympics attacks.
What is required is resolve. Firm resolve for a reckoning. They and the ever present fakirs of Palestine (and Iran, as always) are in for some rude awakening.
“Politics used to only be one aspect of life, and you could ignore it with work, sports, or hobbies. But that has all changed, now that one side insists that you be mindful of everything you do.”
No, politics trumps everything and always.
The reason is simple, Politics at its core is self interest, and people always watch out for their self interests as they understand them.
We can satisfy some of our self interests strictly on our own. Other more global interests, like say societies policies that may or may not benefit us, requires more collective action. So we join others with similar interests to form groups, associations and political parties that promote our larger societal interests.
And that is why politics, when clearly understood, trumps everything!
You are correct, that is a noodle answer. That is why peace can never be possible with the left and why civil war may become inevitable.
Everything hinges on Trump. What a burden he is carrying.
Thanks a lot, now. Have to clean coffee off my keyboard.
No matter how much you give to the left, for the sake of peace, it will never be enough. They want outright communism and nothing less.
Whatever we did give them, they’d sweep it under the rug and act like no concessions have been made.
Old lady wearing a thong is enough to wipe out a bunch of men from sickness.
It’s the left. What’s a lady? Close call on that one. Looks like it could go either way. Literally.
**********
Based on the outcome of the recent election the Left is becoming even more radicalized thereby making this step of little use.
Good points.
The fact of the matter is the Left wants control and absolute power over people; the right wants freedom and to be left alone. Those are fundamentally irreconcilable differences.
The Left hasn’t yet met any major resistance or felt any real consequences for their violence and abuses of power. Until that happens they have little reason to back off from their aggressive ways. Just saying.
I believe we are well into "step six" (Normalization of political violence) and sliding into "step 7" (Rise of militias and parallel forces)
The "Right-Wing" militias are completely infiltrated by government agents and are mostly suitable only for theatrical displays. They won't start anything of consequence, unless the government tells them to do something. They do have people who are skilled with some rather nice toys.
The "Left-Wing" militias have been leaching off of taxpayer funds disbursed by a network of NGOs for several years now. They are unskilled and poorly trained, but they were organized by full-time cadres who did have some training and skills. They have actually been deployed on armed attacks of Federal agents. So far, they have not been very successful. They seem to have a lot of grifters.
The good news is that the government under the Trump administration is moving to disassemble the funding sources for ANTIFA and its' associated franchises.
Muslim militias have been around for literally decades. They haven't done much yet, but they are active in cities with large Muslim populations.
Mexican Cartel militias are the real nightmare deal. They have been active for decades, they have skilled, trained people with plenty of operational project experience, and they have plenty of money for expensive weapons. Assassinations of political opposition and government officials are an annual occurrence in Mexico.
"Step 7" could become fully manifested very quickly. I do not believe there is a "big hurdle" to this.
"Step 8" (Trigger event) is really "living in a powder keg and giving off sparks". "Step 8" and "Step 7" might actually occur in reverse order.
I only disagree with one point: it’s in the country’s best interest to start it now and not wait until the DSA is in power.
ChatGPT weighs in.
. How a U.S. civil conflict could happen (in theory)
Political scientists don’t imagine a repeat of 1861 (armies, fronts, secession).
Instead, they talk about state fragility models, polarization metrics, and irregular conflict patterns. The most cited ingredients:
a. Extreme political polarization
A democracy becomes vulnerable if:
opposing sides begin to see each other as illegitimate
leaders claim elections are invalid
institutions (courts, legislatures) stop being accepted as referees
b. Erosion of institutions
This includes:
refusal to concede elections
misuse of state power
breakdowns in federal–state cooperation
politicization of police, state guards, or other agencies
c. Widespread misinformation
Information environments that fragment (each side believing entirely different “realities”) weaken shared civic foundations.
d. Localized unrest
Most modern internal conflicts begin with localized, scattered violence, not a single triggering event.
e. Charismatic leaders encouraging escalation
Leaders who frame political grievances as existential (“We must fight or we cease to exist”) raise the risk dramatically.
2. What a modern U.S. civil conflict would likely look like
Experts overwhelmingly agree: It would not be two giant armies.
Instead, it would resemble:
political violence (assassinations, riots, sabotage)
irregular militia activity
episodic clashes, not ongoing battles
state vs. federal legal confrontations
possible isolated insurgencies in rural or urban clusters
Think Northern Ireland, Colombia, or the Balkans in micro-form—not Gettysburg.
Key features:
a. Fragmented, not symmetrical
Different groups acting independently:
extremist militias
radicalized lone actors
tightly networked ideological cells
No unified “North vs. South.”
b. Localized governance breakdowns
Some counties or states might refuse to follow federal directives, leading to:
legal standoffs
competing claims to authority
blockades, protests, or occupations
c. Major economic and infrastructure disruption
Things that would be hit hardest:
shipping/transportation
power grid stability
tech sector
food and fuel supply chains
d. Information warfare
Probably the dominant feature:
propaganda
cyberattacks
deepfake political operations
deplatforming and counter-deplatforming
foreign governments amplifying chaos
3. What prevents it
Despite polarization, the U.S. has strong stabilizers:
a. Highly integrated economy
States rely heavily on each other. True secession is nearly impossible financially.
b. Intermixed population
There aren’t clean geographic divisions—no easy “secession line.”
c. Professionalized military
The U.S. military is structured to resist factionalization; its culture strongly resists political division.
d. Federal and state legal structures
Redundant systems (courts, agencies, checks) make institutional collapse less likely.
e. High public risk aversion to violence
Even among intense partisans, support for actual violence remains low.
4. Bottom line
A U.S. “civil war” today—if it ever emerged—would almost certainly be:
messy, decentralized, and irregular
driven by political and information breakdowns rather than secession
more like protracted domestic instability than conventional war
But current real-world conditions, while tense and polarized, do not make a traditional civil war probable.
I’m pretty sure that’s a dude.
We capitalists have advantages in numbers, guns and training.
They have advantages in hair dye, nose rings and screeching.
Would Laz???
Good summary by AI—that is my read on all points.
We may end up in something like an irregular decades long “war” with no fronts.
Infrastructure and standards of living would gradually degrade.
Valid and objective assessments would be almost impossible for anybody to obtain.
There may no leaders with enough “reach” to even sign a peace treaty that would stop the activity.
Media X 9
Barring an external threat of some kind, we may just crawl along as we are, continually degrading civil order.
The Era Of Lawlessness
The other element that AI did not discuss was the government’s technical abilities to monitor “terrorist” activities they choose to monitor.
That means that any “rebels”—left or right—would have to learn to avoid high tech communications that could be monitored.
One result of that is a lack of coordination by any “rebels” which is part of why I am convinced that conflicts will be local and at most regional and that leadership of all parties will be splintered.
“Rebels” may have to wait until government monitoring has gradually degraded over time before undertaking large scale activities. We could be talking decades here.
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