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Murtaza Hussain
@mazmhussain
There's not going to be a civil war; not today and not anytime soon. America is a fluid economic and cultural zone without dividing lines that could organize political violence. If you look at data, the most significant form of polarization politically is based on intimate individualistic factors like gender and age. Most importantly, no country with a high per-capita GDP has ever had a civil war. The logic is simple: Even if you're really mad about something in politics, in America you still have the option of watching the football game and going to Cinnabon. The minimal bread of Cinnabon and circus of the NFL is democratically accessible to the masses on a level unlike anything in human history. To the vast majority of people that rationally sounds like a better option than rotting away in prison or giving up ones life or health for some abstract cause. Rich countries don't have civil wars, they just yell alot. Maybe a civil war could be organized in the metaverse one day so people can blow off steam.
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Nounish Prof ⌐◧-◧🎩
@nounishprof
Agree that an all out civil war is unlikely for many reasons but feel like we’ve been in a civil cold war for 8 years, mostly digital/media fueled, with the occasional skirmish IRL. I don’t see this ending any time soon and is likely to only ramp up from here. Comparing GDP for the US and European nations in mid 1800s prior to America’s Civil War, US GDP was equal to or higher than all but the UK. So I’m not sure that GDP is always an indicator. But agree with the general premise.
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Murtaza Hussain
@mazmhussain
That type of polarizing cold conflict is definitely going to continue and it makes it a bit hard to govern as well. One thing I forgot to add is that free speech actually acts like a bit of a release valve for social pressure. In places where you can’t speak eventually things just explode but being able to yell is cathartic. This is part of systems theory as explained by Nicholas Taleb actually
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