There seems to be a war a week these days…..Ukraine, Russia, China, Taiwan on and on….but this war that I am referring to is a war within our own society…..a Civil War….yet another civil strife that tears this country apart.

We are told that all this could change if we just get out and vote….I do not believe so….the political divide is getting deeper and deeper…..

Our country is in a crisis. On a near-daily basis, evidence mounts implicating the former president of the United States in a coup attempt against our republic. And in just the past two weeks, a spate of extremist Supreme Court decisions have gotten rid of a woman’s fundamental right to make decisions about her own body, our government’s ability to regulate clean air and water as required by law, and the separation of church and state, all while curbing our ability to regulate deadly weapons.

The legitimacy of a democracy rests on the consent of the governed, on the premise that decisions made by civic institutions reflect the will of the citizens and noncitizens they impact. From the January 6 insurrection to the increase in voter suppression, it has become increasingly clear that our country is in the midst of a legitimacy crisis, with the Supreme Court at the heart of it.

But the court’s recent rulings signify more than just a curtailment of our rights. As an immigrant who has seen countries descend into civil conflict, I recognize a familiar trend here: These are the latest signposts in the frightening backsliding of US democracy into authoritarianism.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democracy-scotus-radical-reform/

Is change coming with the next election?

David Brooks of the NYT has some thoughts on this…..

Look at the conditions all around us:

First, Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the way things are going. Only 13% of voters say the country is on the right track, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll published this week.

Second, Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the leaders of both parties. Joe Biden has a 33% job approval rating among registered voters. About half of Republican voters want to move on from Donald Trump and find a new presidential candidate for 2024.

Third, inflation is soaring. Throughout history, inflationary periods have often been linked to political instability. As economist Lionel Robbins wrote about Weimar Germany, inflation “destroyed the wealth of the more solid elements in German society; and it left behind a moral and economic disequilibrium, apt breeding ground for the disasters which have followed.”

Fourth, the generational turnover is coming. The boomer gerontocracy that now dominates power is bound to retire, leaving a vacuum for something new.

Fifth, Americans are detaching from the two political parties. Far more Americans consider themselves independents than consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans, and independents may be growing more distinct. And there’s some research that suggests independents are increasingly not just closeted members of the two main parties but also hold different beliefs, which puts them between parties. Sixty-two percent of Americans believe a third party is needed.

Sixth, disgust with the current system is high. A majority of American voters believe that our system of government does not work, and 58% believe that our democracy needs major reforms or a complete overhaul. Nearly half of young adult voters believe voting does not affect how the government operates

Things are not looking good for this social situation to right itself……so is there another Civil War in our near future?

50% of the Americans polled think that we are headed for another messy and possibly bloody correction in our republic….

A shocking new study has found that half of Americans expect to see a second civil war within years, while nearly a fifth say they would be armed with guns at a political skirmish themselves.

Distressing levels of “alienation,” “mistrust,” and a growing tendency to resort to violence were uncovered by researchers at the University of California, Davis, in their recent survey of 8,620 adults across the US. They found that more than two-thirds of respondents said they perceived a “serious threat to our democracy,” while more than half agreed that “in the next few years, there will be civil war in the US.” Over 40 per cent noted the importance of having a “strong leader” over democracy, while also agreeing that “native-born white people are being replaced by immigrants.”

According to the study, there is a growing tendency to settle political disagreements with violence. Almost a fifth of respondents told them that it was likely they would be “armed with a gun” at a political flash point in the next couple of years, while four per cent admitted it was likely they would “shoot someone with a gun.”

https://meaww.com/50-per-cent-americans-think-second-civil-war-is-coming-uc-davis-survey

I fear that I may live long enough to see the final disintegration of our republic….it, the republic, is slowly going the way of the dodo.  The slow erosion of civil liberties has been finalized by the Supreme Court.

Is this it for the great American Experiment?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”