Around 60% of Americans think civil war is somewhat likely or very likely. This is a lot and to some, including Tim Pool, pictured above, it is scary.
But are we headed for some sort of civil war or upheaval in this country?
In his landmark book “Anamtomy of Revolution”, Crane Brinton laid out signs of impending revolution and one of the major signs: people, including the intelligentsia, openly say they think it is inevitable. While such numbers are concerning, they are not necessarily a guarantee of results. In other words, the potential for upheaval may be there, but it’s not a certainty.
Revolution or civil war in this country lack many elements, chief among them being that no coherent opposition and no singular leadership cadre had emerged to facilitate the pent-up rage and turn it into action. The opposition is disorganized, rent-seeking, celebrity worshipping, and feckless. The opposition has no cogent narrative to counter the establishment. There is no real sign the opposition can even operate and compete outside the technological and economic ecosystem controlled by that establishment. There is not underground, no alternative culture, not opt-out resources.
The kind of upheaval we face is a civilizational collapse, which could take decades to sort itself out. In the grand scheme of civilizational decline, all the signs of revolution or civil war are present, but the fire in the belly needed to rise up just isn’t there. This is how civilizations die, slowly and painfully.
What we should be looking for isn’t a revolution or a civil war, what we should be looking for is the emergence of an internal proletariat, people who opt out and drop out, a withdrawal and inward focus with people who reject the zeitgeist of the hour and step out of the flow of the current system. This withdrawal of an internal proletariat who simply find gaps for freedom wherein they can build a culture that is diametrically opposed to the prevalent culture is the burgeoning phase of a new civilization.
There are too few people, less than 1%, initially who are willing to join the ranks of an alt-culture and opt out of the socioeconomic and sociocultural zeitgeist in totality. Likewise, there are too few people who would be willing to risk all for some revolution or civil war, even if they are alarmed at how things are going.
Basically, there isn’t going to be any kind of civil war or revolution in this country any time soon. Authoritarianism will likely grow and the only path of escape is to find and join an inner proletariat who have the courage, the heart, and the discipline to opt out as much as they can, albeit peacefully.
