The idea of a civil war is a romantic notion to only a few. Thankfully, it isn’t a trend that has caught on in the mainstream. At least not yet.
A recent poll of 1,500 Americans indicates growing discord around the country. The results show 66% “believe that political divisions in this country have gotten worse since the beginning of 2021.” To be fair, the environment before 2021 wasn’t much better. But the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and what has transpired since then have brought a new level of tension.
The pollsters also delved into the idea of civil war, which is a popular topic among the very online. The question “what is the likelihood that political violence will culminate in a civil war in the U.S.?” resulted in 14% saying “a civil war is very likely in the next decade” and 43% saying “it is at least somewhat likely.” That’s troubling, to say the least.
A civil war is not a good thing, no matter how much one side wants the other side to suffer. But in a time when the terms “fascist” and “racist” have lost all meaning and are thrown around by a sitting president, emotions will run high. Still, that is no justification for talk of a civil war. That kind of real-life conflict would be an economic, political, and humanitarian disaster for America. The United States is an imperfect place filled with imperfect people, and it requires existing alongside others with whom we disagree.
Neither party wants to admit it, but this nationwide mood is set by both Left and Right. Both Democrats and Republicans have taken part in viewing their fellow Americans with extreme disdain. But that partisan disgust is different from an urge to do something more damaging.
After the Mar-a-Lago raid on Aug. 8, online chatter from the strongest members of the MAGA crowd included calls for civil war. This isn’t the first time. Before the 2020 election, Glenn Beck suggested a civil war was right on the horizon. Not long after Jan. 6, 2021, actual civil war talk started to emerge as pro-Trump voters viewed President Joe Biden as illegitimate. Too many still do.
In January of this year, an article by NPR wondered about the possibility of civil war as the country grows more divided. Recently on Twitter, popular leftist Jeff Tiedrich racked up more than 40,000 likes by saying, “The people who lost the 2020 election 61 times now want to lose the Civil War twice. go for it, dipshits.” The idea of a civil war or “national divorce” is red meat for both parties. And it doesn’t seem to be settling down.
The measured analysis in a September 2021 Brookings Institution article suggested why a civil war could be a likelihood, along with reasons why such a thing is still improbable. It ends with the following: “We expect that these limiting factors will allow the country to avoid a full-scale civil war. However, with nearly half the country believing this conflict to be likely, we need to take that scenario seriously.” As the latest poll shows, nothing has changed in the year since that Brookings piece. It’s safe to say things are worse.
In the first American Civil War, 600,000 lives were lost. It has been 161 years since the start of that conflict, and the passage of time has diluted the horrors. But whether one finds home among the Left or Right, there should not be a push for any sort of armed conflict with our neighbors. We as a people would do well to back away from any talk that fantasizes along those lines.
Who knows what America will look like after the next presidential election. But a civil war, or even talk of such a thing, is a net negative for all. The U.S. should not descend into the madness, heartbreak, and destruction an actual civil war would bring. The country is better than that. Or at least, we the people should strive to be.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
