The Divided States of America & The Cold Civil War

If anyone tells you that the American Civil War was completely about slavery, they are being disingenuous. The bloody battles of the civil war that saw brother fight brother, father fighting son, and the country actively tearing itself apart, was less about slavery and more about the role of the federal government’s right to govern the states they oversee. The states wanted the right to rule themselves as they saw fit and didn’t want “Washington” to tell them what to do. This included how they treated their citizens and how their economies would function. The symptom was slavery, but the deeper-rooted issues were about the states’ rights to govern themselves without the oversight of a federal government that many in the south saw as obtrusive and oppressive to their way of life.

President Abraham Lincoln surmised that no matter what challenges the nation faced, the nation could meet those challenges and overcome anything if they did it together. Living in a constitutional republic can be very rough at times, the rights and the will of the majority can lead the country into bouts of feast and famine. We find ourselves currently in a bout of famine with the nation more divided than ever and the outlook very bleak. There may have never been a time in the history of the United States when we have been more divided.

As World War II ended the rise of both the American and Russian military complex put both countries on what could only be deemed a crash course of war, both countries wanted and thought they deserved prominence and believed their way was best. The wars in Korea and Vietnam underscored proxy wars between the US and USSR that were designed to stop a system of beliefs from “infecting” other nations. The US believed it had a God-given, divine right, to be supreme and that freedom and capitalism were the future for all mankind. The USSR believed that the worker should be taken care of before the company and that the government should vigorously oversee and regulate life for each person to make life better for all. This clash of ideas nearly brought the world to the brink of nuclear war on a few occasions and the conflict was deemed the “cold war” because shots were never fired, but for decades the US and USSR did a very dangerous dance with ideals that clashed like oil and water, they simply couldn’t be mixed.

If you think that America is not in the midst of a “cold civil war” at this very moment, then you are either not paying attention or you have been living under a rock since mid-2001. Slowly but consistently, America has begun to segregate and separate itself based on beliefs, political ideology, and other social factors. For what could be the first time in American history social issues are being factored into people’s migratory patterns. All one must do is look at the massive number of people fleeing California, which is a deep blue liberal state, for states like Texas and Florida. The old thinking of “snowbirds” moving from cold places to warmer more tropical places isn’t panning out as couples and younger families that can escape these liberal dystopias take the opportunity, pack up their stuff and rent one-way U-Hauls.

The great separation has begun and is in full swing. Issues like public safety, abortion, LGBTQ+, gender identity, and others are causing people to look at where they live and wonder aloud, “do I belong here?”, “Is this a safe place to build a family” and “do the people around me believe the same way I do”. California is taking the progressive lead with its abortion policies, universal basic income for transgender people, and state-funded programs for illegal immigrants. Places like Oregon, New York, and Illinois are not far behind.

In the old western movies, I grew up watching you would see the protagonist of the movie being pursued by the enemy, whether they were old-time bank robbers or Indians and they would attempt to outrun them with their horses and wagons. Then at some point, the hero knew it was time to circle the wagons and make a stand. Reluctantly the hero did what they needed to do, often losing other key members of the movie, to take a stand and defend themselves. The major question for today is, do we continue to run to what we perceive as safety or do we circle the wagons and prepare for conflict? This thought process uses metaphors and symbolism, and I am in no way advocating for violence against any group of people, but I have heard it said that Revitalization comes when change comes from the head down, meaning when leaders change and start to serve the people and are about the business of their constituents all things go well. However, when change comes from the bottom up and the people have had enough, that is called a Revolution and that change is often both explosive and bloody, the civil war demonstrates that ideology very clearly.

We have already begun the process of separating ourselves, red “free” states that are conservative have seen significant spikes in population from people fleeing blue “progressive” states that are no longer representing those people’s ideals and morals. So, what does this mean to the average person? The red will get redder, and the blue will get bluer, and in the long run elections follow similar patterns based on where people are migrating. One must look no further than the midterm elections of 2022 to see this happen, what if all those peace-loving, conservative people had stayed in California and voted red? What if all the people who escaped the tyranny of New York stayed and voted red? Both Governors DeSantis (R-FL) and Abbott (TX-R) benefitted from mass migration from those progressive bastions and beat their opponents by double digits. Meanwhile, gubernatorial candidates Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Brian Dahle (R-CA) would have loved a few million more votes and the money those voters represent.

As we look forward to the election of 2024 what will happen will be anyone’s guess, but to the observant people who simply look at population growth and decline, you will see people digging in to defend “their way of life” and will do so at any expense. Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada all represent significant pickups for the liberal left and if something isn’t done with messaging and planned legislation the conservatives may never win national elections again to put themselves back into power. The Red Wave turned out to be a red ripple in 2022 and will result in more stalled legislation, more investigations and no real business accomplished for the American people, and the American people are sick and tired of it, on both sides. Could it be time to circle the wagons?