Racket wrote:
Really Sad & Scared wrote:
No. Not in reality. I want to be clear. I am not arguing for violence. I am probably the closest thing to a pacifist as one can be. Violence makes me sick. I am saying that I am scared that when we - as a country - began committing violent actions in the streets, people began to think about how to fight back to protect themselves. I think the gun sales is one indicator. I also think that many Trump voters believed they were/are at risk of being targeted.
I listened to an NPR podcast on this recently - it may have been This American Life - where they dug into this issue. It was what got me very anxious. People on both sides are buying guns and getting ready for something... who knows what.
Does that make more sense? I feel like there was never really a serious reaction to any of the initial protests, and that is what scares me. It is like people have been holed up and waiting. Someone like Bannon could set them off and it scares the heck out of me.
Most of what you described has been going on since the 60s - large protests, civil unrest, general feelings of distrust and anger. I'm not saying it's good, but we are not in an Era of Good Feelings. That's just not the aesthetic right now, nor has it been for a while. Despite that, we've managed to do some pretty good things, so I wouldn't worry too much.
Between the population increase and thus the number of people available to protest or participate in virtually everything over, say, 50 years ago and the coverage of it being so much more readily available it can make it seem that we are in a period of near civil war.
I don't think its good and I dont think it helped that we had a natural divider in charge the last 4 years. Contrary to what a lot of Biden supporters/Trump haters believe, I don't think it gets better at least for a while particularly if Trump does what I think most people think he will do which is to continue along seeking attention and his looney followers going right along with it.