We are Headed for a Civil War

After the election of Mr. Trump there was an immediate and strong emotional reaction from Hillary supporters. This is certainly understandable. No one likes it when the side they support loses. However, the reactions went way beyond partisan disappointment. There was not just crying, but weeping. I saw many people who were downright mourning. The reaction went so far as to devolve into rioting in places.

My heart goes out to those people. Their reactions were and are clearly genuine and I do not take joy in seeing people scared and in mourning. While I am not thrilled with president-elect Trump's election I am not despondent about it.

The thing that I am seeing is that the perspectives of Trump supporters and Hillary supports is fundamentally different. Not just politically and ideologically, but down to the very level of their view of how they interpret the world around them. The differences are deep, fundamental, and too numerous to list. I believe it is representative of how different leftist and conservative ideology is.

Ours is an increasingly divided country. We live in a very diverse country. There are differences in race, culture, socioeconomic standing, religion, philosophy, favorite sports teams, favorite sports, favorite TV shows, favorite media sources, perspectives on our country. There isn't a single universal unifying thing that even cuts across a super majority of Americans today. We are a fractured society.

This is a real problem. Regardless of who is "correct" or "moral" or "good" the disunity in our culture is a deep and existential problem for us. When rifts form as they are increasingly doing, relationships break down. Our level social progress is being degraded. I heard from many people in the news and on social media who said they didn't know a single supporter for the other side in the election. The two sides are clearly not completely separate, but they are dangerously so.

If our nation continues along this path, towards increased fracturing we are headed to a really bad place. Here is what will happen:

1. The number and strength of relationships between groups (race, religion, party, socioeconomic) will drop.
2. Trust and empathy between those groups will weaken.
3. Disagreements between those groups and individuals in those groups will begin to escalate in frequency and severity further pushing them apart.
4. Violence will begin to be seen with increasing frequency resulting in a sharp decline in dialogue even from previous levels.
5. The United States will break up politically and geographically as different groups seek to insulate themselves from the violence and instability. This could lead to a civil war.

I am not overstating the risk posed by this social fracturing. I don't know how long it would take, and it can be prevented, but it is a real risk.

Tomorrow I will discuss how to stop it.