Posted by
(Jimmie) Blackhawke on Thursday, May 28, 2009 3:41:39 PM
Talk of the possibility of another civil war in this country is increasing. However, the subject is met with verbose explanations and wry grins by elites. Some think that today’s collective intelligence, technological advances, and progressive enlightenment will prevent such a war. But the belief persists among other citizens that another civil war, a shooting war, is inevitable given the direction of our country and the extreme vitriolic discourse in today’s secular society.
Race is inevitably tossed into the mix when any discussion of another civil war is raised. But even the most amateurish person can see that there are more serious factors than race behind today’s high degree of tension, political and social conflicts. Indeed no one race or group can be said to house all the good guys and the other house all the bad guys. It is evident that there are some whites who are liberals, Socialists and Communists and some who are patriots, capitalists and conservatives-----and this is true of all groups and races living in our country.
It is also evident that the country is seriously divided along political, social, economic and moral grounds as well as on a host of other germane issues. This division is deep and causes extreme tension that affects families, neighborhoods and workplaces. The media, intentionally or not, is guilty of fanning the flames of division and tension because of their impact on what the masses read and hear about issues. With daily and repetitive reporting of societal and political negatives that are tainted with liberal bias, the media induces a deep skepticism and fear factor into society.
It is commonplace today to witness violent incidents, hate-filled protests and physical attacks born out of decades of pent-up frustrations, a sense of helplessness and a feeling of being constantly manipulated by politicians and special interest groups---such anger has the potential to reach critical mass at any time. So far, however, we have not reached that point; but all societal indicators are moving close to the red zone. Historically, talking and debate have always ceased right before armed hostilities began, so it is imperative we keep talking alive. But we must talk to, not at each other, which requires a national and personal willingness to listen to the other guy’s viewpoint even if you disagree with him.
As stated earlier, it is evident that underlying talk of the possibility of another national civil war is heating up---which brings up many questions. Such as, how close are we to critical mass, and what conditions would have to exist for that to happen? Could we recover as a nation from another civil war given the weaponry and technology we possess today? What would our foreign enemies do to take advantage of our chaos and bloodshed? Afterwards, would we look at the human casualties, burned out cities and devastated countryside and say it was all worth it?
So, I suggest to those in our society who think that we have reached too high a level of education and understanding for such a war to ever happen again to look at history, not just of our country but also at other “civilized and enlightened” societies around the world. Throughout history, whenever people felt oppressed, abused, powerless and threatened, their natural basic instinct for survival emerged and they were and are capable of extreme violence to achieve that survival. No sane person wants to see a civil war in our nation, but it is naïve to say that it could never happen again. Our civil desire to “fight” with words must keep at bay our basic survival instinct to fight with arms.
BLACKHAWKE