Reply #35: Absolutely not

[aaronnyc]

Yes, politics are slightly more polarized than they had been in the past, but this is nothing entirely new. Remember, the Right hated Clinton with just as much venom as the Left now hates Bush. Do you think we were really close to a Civil War during the Clinton years?

The United States is also a highly industrialized country. There have been no Civil Wars in highly industrialized nations in over 50 years. If people have a reasonable amount of money in their pockets they can deal with having a government which they don't support.

Also, there has to be a great dichotomy between two ideologies for a civil war to break out. As much as it seems that the Democrats and Republicans are miles apart, the reality is that their policies are really not that different. Otherwise, we would have a "revolution" every time a new government is elected.

Is the situation so dire, and is the reward of having a Democrat in control so great, that you would really be willing to risk your life and your families life for it? Would you be willing to kill Republicans for the cause? Well, neither would I.

I see people all the time on DU saying that we should be having a civil war. Well, a civil war in the United States would mean the death of tens of millions of Americans, not to mention destroying both the U.S. and world economy. Since I don't think anybody would really support a civil war, let's stop saying that we would - this kind of over the top language only adds to the divisiveness in American politics.