Political pundits, news articles and some of my friends have been saying recently that the US is “closer to Civil War” than anytime since the 1800s because our country is politically, socially and economically divided.
I’m not the least bit worried about this.
I agree that it appears like we are quite divided socio-economically, politically and religiously/morally. These disagreements are seen most bluntly online in social media – especially in user comments. I suppose some portion of these are bots and others are kids (or a$$holes) baiting people. But some portion of these are real. After all I see it in real life.I see Trump bumper stickers and MAGA hats, Black Lives Matter signs in yard, Let’s Go Brandon posters and various other Woke/Anti-Woke/Right/Left/GOP/Dem paraphernalia on homes, cars and clothing.
Here’s why I’m not worried a Civil War.
Because most people in the country, and especially those under 50, are soft. They’ve grown up with little hardship. They are keyboard warriors and road ragers who think hardship is losing the Internet for a few hours, dealing with a “Karen” while shopping, getting cutoff in traffic or taking offense when someone wears (or doesn’t wear) a face mask.
Most people’s hardest struggles are weight gain, affording the latest iPhone or dealing with the Sunday blahs and their ever increasing “anxiety”.
We’ve become a nation of softies.
Can you imagine people who “struggled” with lockdown, where they were delivered food, provided with unemployments benefits that exceeded their working wages, didn’t have to pay rent and streamed Netflix all day fighting in a war?
Imagine them having to find shelter after their house was obliterated by a missile. Searching for drinkable water. Huddling in an abandoned building trying to stay warm without a fire that would make them a target for a sniper’s bullet.
What would it be like when they ran out of food? Just look at the recent hurricane in Florida. Most people cannot handle 3 days without access to grocery stores, gas and utilities.
(By the way – I’m not saying I’m any tougher. I love the convenience, security and ease of living in modern society. My brief exposure to roughing it during my two month road trip stint was enough to convince me that I belong in civilization. I might last a week or two longer than most, but I’d probably shoot myself in the head as soon as things got uncomfortable enough. )
I’m not naive enough to think that war is impossible or that people cannot be transformed by circumstance into harder beings. Look at Ukraine. Look at London during WWII. Look at the US in the past. There are countless examples.
But what I’m saying is that the likelihood of our keyboard warriors willingly taking the risks and embracing the hardships of a civil war seems so far removed from reality that it’s absurd.