Will America Face Another Civil War? An Opinion in Response to That Question

Author's Note

This Hub was written in response to a question I ran into online. That question was (as the title suggests) about whether or not America may face another civil war. The following thoughts are just my own, personal, thoughts on this subject.

Because the only reason I put this Hub together was my having been inspired to write it after seeing this question (or some version of it) showing up online fairly frequently, I've decided not to include a comments box on it because, to be candid, I don't want to get into debates about whether or not the U.S. is headed for "doom" (from either people who hate the U.S. and would like nothing better than to see its downfall, or from people who simply have an overall pessimistic view of most things in life and would like to convince others that they should be equally pessimistic). I'm really not on this site to get involved with discussions about politics and national issues. It's fine for those who are, but that's not how I use my time on this particular site. Once in awhile, however, I do like to voice an opinion - just not get into debate as a result of it (at least not on this site).

Thoughts On A Possible Answer To The Title Question

Maybe I'm just naive, or else ridiculously optimistic, or something; but I really don't think, at this stage in history, there would be a civil war in this country (the US). It's not that I'm oblivious to the fact that people are frustrated and struggling and angry; and it's not that I'm not aware that some people are aggressive, desperate, and hostile - and aren't above thinking up ways to demonstrate it.

Still, even with all the imperfections and frustrations that go with being human beings; and even with x percent of the American population not particularly being above becoming "war-like"; I really think the vast majority of Americans (again, at this point in history) would draw the line on some kinds of violence (and/or would support authorities trying to draw the line on it if it got out of hand).

For all our flaws, weaknesses, imperfections, emotionally disturbed and/or immature people, and whatever else we have that can make the peaceful working out of problems/challenges difficult; I really believe that the majority of Americans have a very solid core underneath, when it comes to what kind of violence they'd be willing to resort to or tolerate. For all the complaints about the things the government does, and for all the dissatisfaction and disgust that can be out there; I think the vast majority of Americans are more likely to behave as they did after September 11, 2001 - which was for a whole lot of people to become united against any threats to America.

Although there's violence in such a big country, violence and destroying peace is not ingrained in the generally mentally and emotionally healthy people in our culture (and I really do think the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their place in our society, tend to be "generally mentally and emotionally healthy" enough to draw that line on what they're willing to do or tolerate as far as violence goes.

Revolution doesn't always come in the form of violence, and I think there could well be a gradual (but peaceful) revolution that could grow (continue to grow) from what's gone on over recent years. I can see a little-by-little improvements that could start to make a lot of people a little less angry.

America has its crime and violence, but it's a huge and free country. That stuff will exist with so many people in a country. Even so, and even though it's certainly not the only nation to be able to say this, it's generally a far more civilized country that many other countries are. Being only 235 years old, it's been a young country for a lot of those years; and it's had its growing pains. It's a country that was born and in its earliest stages at a time in the world when there was a whole lot less enlightenment, information, education, and abhorrence of violence than there is today. In fact, it was a country that played a very substantial role in contributing to moving the world to the more educated/informed, less violent, world that those of us living today know (at least in some corners of that world).

America isn't a perfect country, but it's not a weak country; and it's not a country where the culture and/or the government would be willing to embrace some types of violence. Americans are not perfect; but regardless of religious beliefs, lack of belief, or any number of other things that make us individuals, most have enough of a moral core and a wish to protect America that would amount to the drawing of that line mentioned previously.

We (and much of the world, certainly not all) have come a long way from the 1700's, the 1800's, and even the 1950's and 60's. While some things in human nature will always be what they've always been, civilization and knowledge are what have moved some cultures beyond a "human nature" that is closer to "animal nature" and toward a human nature that is much more removed from behavior more fitting of animals than human beings.

America has its history. It knows what generations before today's Americans or their grandparents were born into, and on what each generation has been built. There are countries where there is so much disregard and lack of respect for life that people from those countries come to America where, for all its imperfections, the overall culture embraces respect for life the peaceful working out of problems through a system that aims to support just that. It is said that if we don't learn from history we are destined to repeat. Americans grow up, and live in, a country where lessons have, in fact, been learned from history; and where a whole lot of people (and also laws) aim to assure that the country, and its culture, will not forget those lessons learned from history (or from parts of the world where people cannot live in peace and substantial safety).

As recently as within my mother's lifetime, African Americans did not have the same rights that White Americans did. Women only gained the right to vote in America one year after my mother was born. As recently as when I was in school, the potential of girl students was largely overlooked in schools. As recently as in my own childhood, there was a whole lot less understood about children and the developing human being than there is today. While there's certainly still a lot to be learned in, and by, America; the country has "come a long way, Baby" (to borrow a line from an old Virginia Slims commercial before "everyone" figured out that cigarette smoking is bad for health and banned the ads on television after, and aimed for a healthier and stronger America by aiming to discourage smoking).

There was also once a television ad for (if I recall correctly) hair dye for women, and the line in that commercial was, "You're not getting older. You're getting better." What a superficial thing it seems when one thinks of a country with TV ads about "coloring the grays", and about a country where so many people have the luxury of buying a product to do just that. Americans can so often seem to take for granted being born into, or coming to, a peaceful country where among our more serious worries they are at least of the variety that allows us to add gray hair as one of our more minor ones. Even with the appearance of a lot of superficial concerns, however, most Americans are very much aware of how fortunate they are to have grown up in, or come to, a country where rampant, horrible, violence and overall upheaval are not the culture's "order of the day". When all is said and done, most people who have grown up in America, or who have come here to get away from inhumane conditions and/or extreme poverty, feel grateful to live in a peaceful America and would not want to do anything, or tolerate anything, that would tear apart its fabric. With all its challenges, in a whole lot of ways America hasn't gotten older. It's gotten better. (The person who wrote that line for that old television commercial probably wouldn't have guessed that I'd be using it decades later in a very different context.)

There's a lot of anger and frustration going on these days (not just in America but in a lot of other countries, including some otherwise peaceful ones). I'd compare the anger and frustration we see and hear about to a painful, broken, leg on an otherwise healthy individual. The pain is real and constant, and it can seem to be screaming at the person who has the broken leg. A broken leg can certainly stop someone from having solid footing or running, but a leg is never the heart and soul of the individual. Injuries heal, with or without scars or permanent damage - but they heal and things like solid footing return.

America may be hurting. We may be seeing the faces of pain and hearing the voices (even screams) of it. In spite of all the ways in which we're different, Americans most often share a certain kind of heart and soul with most other Americans; and that is, I think, what will hold this country together through these challenging times (the way it has so many times in the past).