Who Will Win the Upcoming Civil War?

[rug]

Yesterday 2:15pm
Hamilton Nolan
Senior Writer, Gawker

With racial tensions, inequality, and populist rage set to boil over, some fear America could be on the path to a violent confrontation between the angry Trumpies and the equally angry lefties. Before we decide to start this war, we must ask: who would win?

As police shootings and street protests stoke a national climate already heated by xenophobia, terror attacks, and the unexpected success of an anti-everything brand of politics not seen in generations, many have compared 2016 to 1968, a year marked by assassinations, riots, and questions about the continued success of the American experiment. It is still early, though. By the time this is all over we may be more inclined to compare 2016 to 1860, when half of America got so pissed at the other half that a bloody civil war ensued.

This, of course, is the worst case scenario. But it’s always good to plan ahead.

The Combatants

On the Right: Low-income white workers who were on the losing end of globalization and have become convinced that immigrants and non-white people are to blame; Billionaires; White nationalists; Angry grandpas; Fearful grandmas; Survivalists; Fox News viewers; “Car guys”; Inveterate racists who have no excuse.

On the Left: Black Lives Matter activists; Bernie Sanders voters; Aging hippies; College students and professors; Legal and illegal immigrants of all nationalities; Occupy-style perma-activists; Confused self-identified pacifists.

http://gawker.com/who-will-win-the-upcoming-civil-war-1783675459

[AngryAmish]

1. The Puritans, again.

They won then lost the first Civil War and had to come over here. They won the US Civil War and hold the whip hand now.

[KingCharlemagne]

2. Da fuq? - nt

[rug]

4. I take it as sardonic.

Notwithstanding that speculation is rising.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2016-07-15/bikers-for-trump-say-he-will-fight-radical-islam-in-us/

[sarae]

3. It's a little unsettling that

one of the byproducts of our country's polarization is a split between gun owners and people without guns. I say that as someone without a gun.

[GulfCoast66]

10. Plenty of people on our side

Own guns. Some have enough to share🙄

But the while discussion is nuts. We are not going to have an insurrection of any kind. Look how well it worked for the Bundies. Because they really thought they were starting a revolution.

All they got were dildos, lube and prison.

[hack89]

20. Lots of Dems own guns. So do many POC. I wouldn't be concerned. nt

[Eleanors38]

22. Civil War. A fear of someone who probably thinks this lefty toter 'lives in fear.' heh.

[DashOneBravo]

33. Suddenly

All of us gunnoneers will become quite popular!

HA!

[pablo_marmol]

41. Reminds me of a story told by a Jewish supporter of the 2A.

At family get-togethers, he's frequently made the butt of jokes because he enjoys shooting, and believes in the RKBA. One night a discussion regarding a breakdown of law & order erupted, and one of his relatives said something like......"Well, if push came to shove, we'd just grab a gun from Joe."

Joe's response: "No you wouldn't. I'd sooner give a gun to a gun-owning friend as a back-up than to any of you."

Silence broke out immediately, and the jokes about his gun ownership have mysteriously ceased.

Edited to add: I don't think it's at all improbable that concerns about societal instability are accounting for new gun sales.

[Bonhomme Richard]

5. My guess is that it would be the same southern authoritarian sympathizers,

though not as big a percentage as during the civil war because the demographics have changed, and what would have been called the copperheads up north and there would be an increase in those due to economic conditions. That would be one side versus the rest of us.
Who would win? I wouldn't venture to guess. As far as I am concerned I don't think the original civil war ever really ended. The battles only switched from the fields to an economic/social conservative battlefront. On that front they are winning.

[GeorgeGist]

6. Before the first civil war we had them contained ...

Now they're everywhere.

[MillennialDem]

7. Whoever has the larger support of the military. Now, if it's 46% military on one side and 54% on th6

other, that's when the civilian population starts to become a major factor.

In that case (near parity in terms of military support) the left would win. We just have more able bodied men and a lot more able bodied women. We would also be likely to draw in European intervention.

[NutmegYankee]

14. People overrate the strength of the military domestically.

The reality is the military has a lot of big capital weapons and bombs, but just 800 people in a city would tie up at least 2 divisions to sweep every building to destroy them.

Modern military units do not handle guerilla warfare well at all.

[MillennialDem]

19. Tell that to the Spanish Maqis and the Forest Brothers. I also heard the US military was going to

abandon their tanks and artillery and just fight a guerilla war if we're ever invaded.

[NutmegYankee]

26. Notice that it took decades to knock them down.

A true civil conflict with high participation would lead to the ruin of most cities.

[MillennialDem]

44. Yeah, but it just proves that they can be defeated. And there's a much higher will to defeat

guerillas in your own country than there is in developing countries that we can just pull out of.

[drray23]

27. This is changing.

having been at war for two decades in the Middle East where this exact kind of warfare is what our soldiers have to do, they have gained a lot of expertise.

[NutmegYankee]

29. And we have learned the cost.

Imagine the destruction our cities would take. One side may win in the end to only rule over ruins.

[drray23]

31. Oh I agree. It would be a disaster. Nt.

[TeddyR]

35. The military

Both officer and enlisted is overwhelmingly Republican (I served with those folks). I read an article a number of years ago that the military was the most reliable Republican voting group

[Marr]

39. In this scenario, I think they'd be best described as

overwhelmingly authoritarian. The military and police are going to back the federal government, period-- no matter who is in control of it.

[hobbit709]

8. The corporations.

[RKP5637]

32. THIS^^^ n/t

[treestar]

9. I don't think people are as angry as the media claims

It's all going to be online. Nobody really wants to start shooting.

[Eleanors38]

24. ^^^ This.

[RKP5637]

30. M$M heats it up because it gives them more viewers and more $$$$$'s. I think many in the US

just wish the politicians, lawyers and M$M would just go away.

[pablo_marmol]

36. Agreed. NT

[L. Coyote]

11. The people who want to start it, who want to steal the public land and trillions in oil, gas, ....

Of course, they want to take it simply by winning elections. Fear those who want to start a white-only region in the West.

[pablo_marmol]

12. Most "intelligent" line in the article is the last.

Now what we need to do is take away their guns...

Yeah, sure. That's the ticket.

[jmg257]

13. Maybe he really wants one? (a civil war, not a gun). nt

[pablo_marmol]

37. The sentence seems to suggest that. Or the author is **really** stupid. :-) NT

[Eleanors38]

25. Behind some shit-talkin' banners is a Creature from the Id.

[pablo_marmol]

38. *

[cherokeeprogressive]

15. There won't be another civil war. Ham's friends are too busy walking off cliffs...

while playing Pokemon Go.

[okasha]

16. No one.

Hi, rug!

[rug]

17. Hi, okasha!

Keep cool!

[okasha]

18. Working at it.

Today is the official start of the canícula, but is supposed to be cooler than yesterday. Go figure.

[Matrosov]

21. Not the gun owners

Cleetus might have a hard time ducking behind cover

[Eleanors38]

23. From Gawker's description of whites, I can see how that population was abandoned by progressives.

[PJMcK]

28. There won't be a civil war

The polarity of the combatants that you outlined, rug, won't fight. Why would they? They have families, property with mortgages, investments in that property, cars, RV's, boats and lots of other things they will not jeopardize.

Talk is cheap but very few people will put their life on the line for their "principles."

[DashOneBravo]

34. I don't think it will happen

[Agnosticsherbet]

40. The 15 million (or more) dead will not...

[panader0]

42. Okay--I fit a few of the on the left categories:

Bernie Sanders voter, aging hippie and confused self-identified pacifist.
The confusion comes and goes...

[Shankapotomus]

43. Everyone who doesn't participate (eom)