If there are two things Americans love above all, it is comfort (defined differently depending on who you ask) and options (73 flavors of pasta sauce, more things to watch on streaming than could ever hope to be sampled), both of which would be severely curtailed by any serious violent conflict. And anyway, who would "they" even start fighting with anyway? States may have one-party majorities, but they just run things. They have no money without taxes and commerce, both of which would vanish in a heartbeat with a declaration of secession.
You think Covid was disruptive? The Federal Gov. wouldn't have to "fight" with Kansas if it broke away, it would merely need to stop paying out Social Security, Medicare, and the paychecks of all its employees, not extend any more credit and cut them off from the local Federal Reserve. Pundits can pretend that were all in silos, but the reality is, we are deeply interconnected on a macro and micro level. And a stupid and wound-up as the general population can be, they are also kind of lazy. Civil conflict, even if it were non-violent would entail enormous sacrifice and virtually no benefit.
This last election was "hopeful" simply because it really WASN'T very dramatic, at all really. People voted, votes got counted, no one rioted... Most of the serious election deniers didn't make it in, and surprisingly, most DIDN'T fight the fact that they lost. The ones that did got ignored, and... no barricades were stormed. Big Picture: Attacking the Capital two years didn't turn out to be a very popular move, even if its significance wasn't taken as seriously as it should have been by some. More importantly, after the fact, it DIDN'T bring in tens of thousands of armed support troops looking to foment the "end times" revolution.
There's normalcy bias, and then their losing your life, your livelihood, being separated from family and friends. Those who believe they have little to lose might spoil for a shooting war, but those who have little to gain and everything to lose would never join in. That category by far outweighs the former. The former can and do make a lot more noise today than ever before but that doesn't mean they actually have widespread support.
Neither the Black Panthers or the American Communists, both armed and motivated during the 60s/70s never managed to stage an uprising (granted the FBI illegally assassinated most of their leaders), nor have any of the right-wing anti-government groups in the 80s/90s/2000s. Let's not forget that the Oklahoma City bombing was meant to be the "trigger' for a national overthrow. If anything it did the opposite. The two men who did it got hardly an ounce of support or sympathy from the larger American public and will go down as in history and ruthless domestic terrorists, not revolutionary heroes.
The first time a militia goes head-to-head with the American military not only would they lose, but any soldier who dies will be a hero, and every irregular fighter becomes a villain. Even those who are generally suspicious of police immediately lent sympathy to those injured on JAN 6th.
If there are two things Americans love above all, it is comfort (defined differently depending on who you ask) and options (73 flavors of pasta sauce, more things to watch on streaming than could ever hope to be sampled), both of which would be severely curtailed by any serious violent conflict. And anyway, who would "they" even start fighting with anyway? States may have one-party majorities, but they just run things. They have no money without taxes and commerce, both of which would vanish in a heartbeat with a declaration of secession.
You think Covid was disruptive? The Federal Gov. wouldn't have to "fight" with Kansas if it broke away, it would merely need to stop paying out Social Security, Medicare, and the paychecks of all its employees, not extend any more credit and cut them off from the local Federal Reserve. Pundits can pretend that were all in silos, but the reality is, we are deeply interconnected on a macro and micro level. And a stupid and wound-up as the general population can be, they are also kind of lazy. Civil conflict, even if it were non-violent would entail enormous sacrifice and virtually no benefit.
This last election was "hopeful" simply because it really WASN'T very dramatic, at all really. People voted, votes got counted, no one rioted... Most of the serious election deniers didn't make it in, and surprisingly, most DIDN'T fight the fact that they lost. The ones that did got ignored, and... no barricades were stormed. Big Picture: Attacking the Capital two years didn't turn out to be a very popular move, even if its significance wasn't taken as seriously as it should have been by some. More importantly, after the fact, it DIDN'T bring in tens of thousands of armed support troops looking to foment the "end times" revolution.
And the subset to your question is how quickly the pendulum swings. As it will.
There's normalcy bias, and then their losing your life, your livelihood, being separated from family and friends. Those who believe they have little to lose might spoil for a shooting war, but those who have little to gain and everything to lose would never join in. That category by far outweighs the former. The former can and do make a lot more noise today than ever before but that doesn't mean they actually have widespread support.
Neither the Black Panthers or the American Communists, both armed and motivated during the 60s/70s never managed to stage an uprising (granted the FBI illegally assassinated most of their leaders), nor have any of the right-wing anti-government groups in the 80s/90s/2000s. Let's not forget that the Oklahoma City bombing was meant to be the "trigger' for a national overthrow. If anything it did the opposite. The two men who did it got hardly an ounce of support or sympathy from the larger American public and will go down as in history and ruthless domestic terrorists, not revolutionary heroes.
The first time a militia goes head-to-head with the American military not only would they lose, but any soldier who dies will be a hero, and every irregular fighter becomes a villain. Even those who are generally suspicious of police immediately lent sympathy to those injured on JAN 6th.