From this side of the Atlantic (the UK side) it looks like the US is slipping towards civil war, goaded on by a President wanting to invoke the Insurrection Act as a way of militarising his political power.

lukeryanps@toot.community

@ChrisMayLA6 The media distortion is very real. US will self-correct in the next election cycle, but my primary fear is that China and Russia will not let this opportunity slip away. The US/world has never been more vulnerable. I think the Taiwan and Baltic escalations will be after the US elections, like in late November or December. NATO will be sans US by then, but Europe can handle Russia.

stevefelten@mastodon.online

@ChrisMayLA6 We fear there is little chance of fair elections in the future. There is no organized opposition. Protests are fine but we need to be armed and trained and cannot rely on the media.

bette@mstdn.social

@ChrisMayLA6

Good to know that somebody's media are talking about this. Ours doesn't, unless it's trump/ice-positive. Is it as bad here as they say? Yes. Violence and kidnaping are being normalized. Most of the people in this country either support our present state, or have NO idea about what's been going on for the last 10 years (yes, I count the first term).

I never thought I would welcome aging, but not a day goes by that I think "Damn, I'm glad I'm old."

mattrog@mastodon.me.uk

@ChrisMayLA6 since he came to power this time I have been sure that by the end of his term they would be at war and he would pause the elections until it was "resolved".
"I'm just doing what Ukraine did and you all supported that .. "

econproph@mastodon.social

@ChrisMayLA6
The situation is, if anything, worse and more serious in many places than indicated by media. However, I would caution ppl not to use a "slipping toward civil war" framing in their mind to understand things.

US is a very, very large place. Conditions are heterogenous. You read/hear about the worst places.
More encouraging trends are harder to see.
This is something different than "civil war". Thinking it is will only blind ppl to the full dynamics and processes happening.

chrismayla6@zirk.us

@lukeryanps

I'm interested in the idea of self-correction - from here it looks like the forces with & behind Trump are seeking to ensure such a self-correction is not possible.... are you saying that is a misapprehension?

crazybutable@mastodon.social

@ChrisMayLA6 @etchedpixels as someone living in Minneapolis it feels very precarious. It’s pretty obvious that the federal government came in, expected to do a little police brutality, the population would erupt in protests and then that would give them pretext to federally take over the state.

The gravity and trauma of the situation is very unevenly distributed. Some neighborhoods are getting hit continually, others not at all.

chrismayla6@zirk.us

@econproph

Yes I wondered about that - its it limited to a smallish number of areas... but on the other hand what's to stop it spreading?

guardeddon@mas.to

@d_a_n_a @ChrisMayLA6
What encouragement would be necessary for, say, California to secede?

anarchoninawrites@jorts.horse

@ChrisMayLA6 To have a civil war, you'd have to have government bodies willing to fight the Nazis. That is not happening, nor is it realistic.

An uprising? Well we might be headed towards that hella fast. But it ain't gonna be a "Civil War" because the lib establishment will surrender before they start shooting.

curiousmagpie@beige.party

@ChrisMayLA6 The situation is indeed very grave however a civil war, an organized civil war, is unlikely.

* We are spread out both geographically and in terms of common, binding values.
* We are heavily sedated both medically and recreationally.
* Finally, the people who are out on the streets are - for the most part - dedicated to some form of the principles of non-violence. We are not committed to, nor do we take pleasure in, vicious acts of violence and control - unlike ICE and those who hold and loose their leashes.

Of course, I don't have a crystal ball to see the future and how this will ultimately play out. I have my hopes for a positive outcome but in the meantime there's a lot of suffering.
#uspol
#ice #civilwar

evelinesulman@akademienl.social

@Mattrog @ChrisMayLA6 that's my fear too

tadbithuman@mastodon.social

@AnarchoNinaWrites @ChrisMayLA6 worse, they might decry the violence of self defence, as they are wont to do.

2legged@mastodon.ie

@HarriettMB The USA has been in a persistent civil war since a century before its foundation. Mostly against non-white people, but also against working class people.

It is labelled as a "civil war" only when the endemic war on non-white America and poor America is turned onto chunks of white middle-class America.

But don't let the colonist labels deceive. This is not the start of the American civil war. This is just an intensification of one front of the continuous civil war.

@ChrisMayLA6

econproph@mastodon.social

@ChrisMayLA6
The active violence is in a small # of cities - at one time. The active conflicts are more like rotating instigations. But the awareness, anxiety, and opposition is def spreading big time thru US.
The numbers and time do not favor the violent oppressors - and they know it. Big long run conflicts like wars or revolutions take time, skilled leadership/people, and logistics & materiel.
This won't be quick, I fear.

d_a_n_a@mstdn.social

@guardeddon @ChrisMayLA6 secession attempts would cause outright civil war. Remember that the federal govt. is heavily armed.

I believe we'll see interstate agreements to do things that the federal govt. used to do. If things fall apart completely, these associations could become the basis of regional entities.

2legged@mastodon.ie

@guardeddon California will not secede until the humongous gravy train of military spending dries up. That's not a sufficient condition for a #CalExit, but it's a necessary condition.

Also, Silicon Valley is now so strong that there is probably no secession without #techbros in the driving seat.

@d_a_n_a @ChrisMayLA6

alex_p_roe@mastodon.world

@EvelineSulman @Mattrog @ChrisMayLA6 He can’t pause elections lawfully. US has held elections during all wars including the Civil War. He can prevent people from voting by scaring them enough to stay home but even this may not be enough to end voting as courts can extend voting to counter certain issues. Trump wants you to worry.

2legged@mastodon.ie

@ChrisMayLA6 @econproph Few civil wars involve an ongoing punch up on every street. Mostly, they are localised.

d_a_n_a@mstdn.social

@guardeddon @ChrisMayLA6 A couple of book suggestions vis a vis secession:

Peter Heller, "Burn" (2024) (Maine secedes)

Brian Hart, "Trouble No Man" (2019) (West coast post secession of a large area described as "The Preservation")

Both are grim food for thought.

Abspeckgeflüster – Forum für Menschen mit Gewicht(ung)

From this side of the Atlantic (the UK side) it looks like the US is slipping towards civil war, goaded on by a President wanting to invoke the Insurrection Act as a way of militarising his political power.