I do not ask this question rhetorically or to incite fear, but as a student of history seeing troubling signs.
I don't want to get too specific to negate my anonymity (for now) but I am in the business of history not as it was taught but as it has been written in its time. I deal in collectible and rare books and have had a fair amount of experience handling material from right before and during the Civil War era.
Though I can't say I could make a completely convincing argument, I will say a lot of the language, attitudes and divisiveness of today echos that period.
Now I don't want to start some silly hair on fire diary about this possibility so much as open rational discussion about it, so please don't accuse me of some CT nonsense. Thank you!
For starters the frequency and implied seriousness of elected state officials talking about secession is starting to get a little uncomfortable. The fact this almost always comes from politicians, that hail from states that often drain more from the system than they give, makes we want say 'bye'. If not for all the honest citizens that would be caught in Republistan or the United States Of The Little Baby Jesus I would be willing to help them on their way.
There is also a very strong 'armed insurrection' theme through much of the far right language we hear. This combined with a media/Repubs trying to whip them up into a frothing frenzy of patriotic fear, makes it seem like only a spark could set the whole thing off. In fact this is why I think the Feds backed off in Nevada to let things cool down and then deal with it in a more 'surgical' manner.
Lastly the very real 'us' and 'them' mentality the whole nations has been reduced to, makes hostilities from one side that much easier to inflict on the other. Now I'm not going to give the Dems a full pass on this one because they stoke the us/them fire too, but by no means in such a violently intended manner. None the less the more each side looks 'down' on the other instead of 'across', the easier it become to see them as less than you. This to me is the worst trend, its the one that dehumanizes.
So not only do I ask what you think in regards to the possibility of this happening, but more importantly how to defuse it? I think one of the main problems is the 'split the baby' issues, those that have no middle from the view of one side or the other. Abortion is a good example and an example where the left has been very willing to compromise based on time and circumstance. But there is no where to compromise with 'no abortions' which makes finding a middle ground all but impossible.