If there’s anything that certain, it’s that nothing is permanent. When we look back through history, we find that many great societies succumbed to societal collapse. Some have been conquered by outside forces, while others have decayed from within. In either case, the society or civilization has ceased to exist as it was once known. To think that the same can’t or won’t happen to us, is to deny one of the most important lessons of history.
The big question for you and I to consider, is whether it will be internal or external forces that ultimately bring about the demise of the Untied States of America. Currently there are no nation-states with a large enough or powerful enough a military to defeat us. Even if Russia and China were to join together to attack us, it is unlikely that they could mount a big enough amphibious force to guarantee success in invading our shores. The two nations together don’t have anywhere near the amphibious capability that was required to invade Europe on D-day, during World War II.
About the only way that a foreign nation could successfully attack the United States and defeat it would be via an attack by high-altitude EMP. That’s a very real possibility, which has been discussed elsewhere; so, I’m not going to bother spending time on it here.
But it may not be necessary for any foreign power to attack the United States, as we may very well tear ourselves apart, without their help. The political divide that is so prevalent in the US today is tearing this country apart, without any other help. The big question now, is whether it will continue or whether we will find some common ground again, where we can continue functioning as a nation.
We were treated to a sample of how this country could be torn apart a couple of years ago with all the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, a fair number of which turned into riots. I have nothing against demonstrations and believe that our First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech includes the right to peacefully protest. But that’s not the same as having a riot, especially a riot that is identified by theft, destruction and arson.
Unfortunately, we have those in the political system who see it as their duty to use their position to encourage unstable people in their following to engage in these sorts of activities. Not only that, but they are protecting those followers from paying the price for their crimes, while at the same time calling the January 6th incursion in the Capital building an “insurrection,” even though it was unarmed and the only person who was killed was a veteran woman, shot by the police. Justice in this country, at least when it is connected to politics, has become a two-tiered system, with the enforcement of the law being based on one’s political affiliation.
With that being the case, there are more and more people saying that we are headed towards another civil war. Should that war break out, it will be much nastier than the previous one, simply because the battle lines won’t be as obvious. Rather than the north verses the south, it will be the political left verses the political right and while there is some territorial division between the two, it isn’t as clear as it was in the last Civil War.
That lack of clearcut battle lines is what’s going to cause the biggest problem with the next civil war. Battles will break out in random places, as the opposing sides bump up against each other. Little of it will be cohesive warfare, fought by organized troops. Rather, it will be more on the order of ongoing riots, like what we saw with Black Lives Matter.
Should such a war start, it will not only take many lives, but destroy American society as we know it today. Law and order would be largely out the window, not only from the fighting, but from bureaucrats who try and use their position to further the cause of their side. We can pretty much forget about being able to count on the government for anything.
When Might This Happen?
The truth of the matter is that we have no way of knowing when such a breakdown might happen. From what we’ve seen in the last several years, there are plenty of people on both sides of the political divide who are more than ready to turn to violence when things don’t go their party’s way. While almost all of the rioting that has happened can be attributed to one side of that divide, most of the guns belong to the other.
One likely scenario is for the riot side to start tearing things up, due to something happening in the country which they don’t believe in. Interestingly enough, they only seem to do that in cities which are controlled by politicians who are agreeable to their cause. You don’t find such riots happening in cities where law-and-order politicians are in control, because they know that the price of their rioting will be a trip to jail.
If you don’t believe me, just look at what happened in Washington, DC on January 6th and the Congressional hearings that followed. The DC city government is in the hands of Democrats, as was Congress at that time. So the same politicians who winked at the riots which sprung out of the Black Lives Matter protests, were quick to arrest those who unlawfully entered the capital, calling it an “insurrection,” and spreading stories about how dangerous it was for Congress, even though none of those who entered the capital were apparently armed.
If there’s anything in this country which could lead to mass rioting it would be former President Trump winning the 2024 general elections. There is so much hatred focused against Trump in our country today, that there’s a good chance of his winning being all that is needed to cause widespread rioting. Considering how the hate towards him continued through his presidency, I doubt that there’s much anyone can do to keep almost constant protests and rioting from happening during his second term in office.
What Should We Do?
I think it’s necessary to say that it’s not our job to keep the peace or defend our country from those who would destroy it. As tempting as it might be to get directly involved, doing so carries a lot of risk. Remember Kyle Rittenhouse? He eventually won in court, since he didn’t break any laws and only shot in what can very clearly be seen as self-defense. But it could very easily have gone the other way. The mainstream media attempted to try him in the court of public opinion and had declared him guilty even before the bodies could cool. That attempt has cost those news outlets plenty, settling with Kyle for their underhanded attempts at character assassination.
On the other hand, we all have a God-given right to defend home and family. So, regardless of where you live, you need to be ready to do just that. If you happen to live nearby potential targets areas for rioting, either due to the political leadership there or the potential targets for the rioters to go after, you want to be doubly sure that you’re ready to defend your home.
Even with being prepared, the best protection you can possibly have isn’t standing there with guns locked and cocked, it’s not letting the rioters know that you are there. If they don’t know you’re there, they’re much more likely to leave you alone.
That means being able to lock yourself in your home and not come out until the riots are over. More than that, you need to be able to make it look as if nobody is home. That requires things like blackout curtains over the windows and noise discipline to keep them from hearing your television and your kids. At the same time, you don’t want to leave anything outside where they can steal it. Even your cars should be in the garage or hidden away behind the fence, in your backyard.
It’s hard to say just how long you need to be prepared to stay hidden away like that; but figure on a couple of weeks. If there’s one thing that can be said for any mob, it’s that they lose interest just about as fast as they come together to destroy. It’s unlikely that any riot will last more than a couple of days; but as I said, be ready for a couple of weeks.
The other thing we have to realize is that it may take months for any sort of true stability to be reestablished. If the rioting starts because of Donald Trump being elected as president, then it might very well continue throughout his term in office. That will make for a very long four years for anyone living in cities controlled by his political opposition. It’s really hard to estimate just how big the price tag will be on the destruction that is wrought by those who are enraged by his success.
