I made this summary of an excellent article posted by MtnClimber the other day about a conversation between Joe Rogan and Glen Beck. I found it fairly accurate.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4352678/posts
Joe Rogan and Glenn Beck on the nine steps to civil war
My summary:
The nine steps to civil war
1. The first step is the loss of civic trust. When people lose trust in the fairness of the system.
2. Step two is a polarization hardens into identity. Everyone is constantly reminded as to who they are on the political divide, with no break in the action that goes beyond politics.
3. Step three is a breakdown of the gatekeepers. Previously, the media, churches, civic leaders, and political parties served as gatekeepers in political discourse, shaping public conversation into a healthy debate. Now, however, these institutions have failed in that role and have joined in the polarization.
4. Step four is parallel information realities. There are multiple sources of news and information, and they can present wildly disparate versions of the news and political commentary to the point that these can be completely different realities. These realities align with the polarization of identities.
5. Step five is the loss of a neutral rule of law. This is the pivot point. The abject corruption in the rule of law and lawfare as a political weapon. The most egregious examples were the Lois Lerner IRS attack on the Tea Party applications, relentless persecution of January 6, 2021, defendants and the soft treatment of the leftists who burned, looted, and murdered during their 2020 ‘summer of love.’
6. Step six is a normalization of political violence. The ANTIFA violence that killed several people and caused billions in damage in US cities was sold as a “Mostly Peaceful Protest.”
7. Step seven is the rise of militias and parallel forces. That is happening right now in the divisions between ICE immigration enforcement and the state and local police forces.
8. Step eight, there’s the trigger event. Something like the assassination of the president as there have already been several attempts.
9. Step nine comes when police, military, or federal agencies split and begin battling each other.
6.1 threatening and deliberate targeting of political leaders for permanent incapacitation or death.