It seems imminent, right? We are so starved for entertainment and with all the remakes Hollywood has regurgitated, why not have a Civil War Redux?
We were told to put things on hold for a couple of weeks. President Trump knew even that was a stretch. Now, some nine months later, we are still being restricted from living a normal life. While the virus has a kill rate of less than two percent [1], it has shut down over 100,000 small businesses, caused millions to lose their jobs, and though there may never be accurate statistics to show it, I’m willing to bet money that more people died from the effects of these lockdowns than the actual virus.
As I recall, in 2005—while living in Houston, TX—Louisiana was just struck by Hurricane Katrina. The devastation was traumatic. Many of those affected by the disaster fled to Houston for relief. Yet, not a month later, Houston itself got word of a new storm heading its way. They were projecting that Hurricane Rita would bring as much or possibly more damage than Katrina.
As you might guess, the pandemonium was epic. Store shelves were ransacked, gas was depleted, Houstonians packed their trucks and minivans and hit the roads, I-95 out of Galveston, I-10 away from downtown, out of the loop, and even north of the tollway and George Bush. I decided to stay in my second-floor apartment in Webster and fight it out. I duct taped flattened cardboard boxes to the windows and bought a few extra batteries for my flashlight. As the storm approached, I was getting feedback from friends on the road. It took one friend 12 hours to get to Dallas which is normally a three-hour drive. When all was said and done, the storm passed with little more than a whisper. The death toll reached 120 but get this, only seven died from the effects of the storm. Yes, you read that right. SEVEN! The remaining 113 died [2] because of people trying to flee, getting into car accidents or dying of dehydration stuck in traffic on the highway.
The point is, while the storm did do damage and did kill people, the hysteria caused by so-called experts was much, much worse. Of course, you can use the corollary that guns don’t kill people, people kill people, here. The guns could represent the storm or actual citizens themselves, whereas the people are the media, the meteorologists, the scientists. If there was no media hysteria, people would take the empirical data and do what’s best using their own judgement and/or experience. Instead, they cried for everyone and anyone to migrate inland, buy supplies, and basically throw caution to the wind.
At the time, I decided against all the experts’ warnings and directions, with absolutely no experience living through a hurricane before, to stay home. I, along with everyone but seven others in a town of over one million, survived and, to be honest, hardly felt any effects from the storm whatsoever. I knew that the media was overreacting because of my time growing up in Los Angeles and living through earthquake hysteria. More often than not, the actual event is far less destructive than what the experts predict it will be.
So fast-forward to today and the intense division we as a country are experiencing at the moment, has brought not only division in political thought and ideology, this division has seeped into many other aspects of life. There is a whole population that prioritizes perception over reality. A friend of mine posted on social media that they wear a mask because they are being respectful. They wear the mask because they don’t know if they are infected and don’t want to accidentally infect someone else by not wearing one. They use terms like asymptomatic to try and validate their point, but all it does is show that they only rely on the “science” when it’s convenient. The science is that less than two percent of people in this country die from COVID-19. And of those fatalities, many, if not all, were those who, not only were elderly, but also grossly overweight, and suffering from another illness, e.g., diabetes or certain respiratory diseases.
Using my friend’s logic, she should also consider not driving her car or using a pair of scissors or turning on her stove or walking down a flight of stairs. Those acts can also cause her and/or other people to die at similar or even higher rates than COVID-19. And taking into consideration our culture’s penchant for consuming alcohol and other substances, she and many of my friends who follow this mode of thought, should really consider 15 days of sobriety before hopping on a high-horse to virtue-signal their mask-wearing perception.
But that is just harmless rhetoric. I’m just getting started. The title is On Civil War. I open with the Opinyun that it is inevitable. And if these lockdowns continue, it most certainly will happen. There are enough soldiers on both sides willing to fight, that’s for sure. The amount of people that have been protesting and gathering and showing their support for one side or another have been impressive to say the least. And the fervor with which they march has grown stronger and stronger with each conglomeration. Every time a business goes under, every time politicians fail to assist those struggling from their lockdown orders, every time a citizen struggles but a politician doesn’t, every time real lives are affected by the hysteria caused by this minor league disease (I mean, it wouldn’t even be a ringer in a beer league to be honest), every time something like this occurs they aren’t just one-and-done events. They pile up. In our memories, in our hearts, in our Spidey-sense that we might be the next victim. We become more agitated, more hyper-aware. What once might’ve gone unnoticed is at the forefront now. How many people were passionate about the first 100 businesses closing? What about after 1,000 or 10,000? Now that 100,000 have shut their doors for good, that is something a lot of people have noticed.
Trump said at the onset that the cure cannot be worse than the virus itself. Well, that has definitely proven to be the case. He also said that even one death from COVID-19 is bad, mainly because this virus never should have been exposed to the world in the first place. But with that said, 290,000 is a lot of deaths, no doubt. Do we know how many were already on their deathbed? Do we know how many were falsely labeled a COVID death? (I know I am getting into conspiracy territory here...the taboo word that has just surpassed racist in the liberal vernacular). Again, one death is tragic. I am an individualist at the core. But that isn’t to say that the group has no precedence, no importance. I cherish my family. I would die for them. I cherish my community and my country, what semblance of it remains.
Which brings me to my next point.
Conversely, how many children are suffering from the lack of socialization, the lack of being able to go to school or church or the playground even? How many families are being torn apart from the stress of a lockdown? Suicides in Japan have skyrocketed. I can imagine a similar stat here as well. Alcohol, drugs, and other nihilistic, hopeless vices? I’m sure they too have seen rises in usage. We are on a Maglev train heading towards a breaking point. For most normal citizens, it is still on the outskirts. The fighting and arguing and division are mainly on the news or on social media posted by friends of friends...more of a two or three degrees of separation. But I will say that there is a growing number of people willing to speak out against these infringements.
Look, almost twenty years later, we still put up with the TSA and all the infringements the government put on the public after 9-11. An entire generation has become adults not knowing the experience of that horrible day. But those that remember, remember how easy it was to get on a plane. And because of a small group of people, that experience is much harder for everyone else. Maybe rightfully so.
But I am not the only one who thinks that these new infringements are nothing short of just pure evil. There is a sinister element to it that the Patriot Act and others lack. When politicians force hair salons and barbershops to close, yet they themselves get caught at hair salons not wearing the same masks they mandate, there is something abhorrently wrong with that. When the governor of California prohibits indoor dining at restaurants, yet gets caught dining indoors, normal people who just want to live normal lives notice things like that. When this happens again and again and again, all it does is highlight how not normal life is becoming for everyone.
Some are willing to make the sacrifice. Like my mask-wearing friend. But I imagine my friend would be willing to wear handcuffs and mittens if they said the virus was transferred by free waving fingers. I hope the rest of us aren’t so willing.
BUT…
Are we willing to make other sacrifices? This is the meat of the article right here. Sorry for dragging you along.
If we look at Kenosha and Kyle Rittenhouse we see a somewhat microscopic powder keg event. I doubt many people even knew where Kenosha was on the map before that riot. Kyle answered the call to come and help protect these small businesses that are being hit left and right by politicians and rioters alike. He ended up shooting three people who, in my eyes, were blatantly attacking him and at least one even seemed like he was targeting Kyle. These three people are/were criminals with felonies on their record. What are the odds? There were hundreds of protestors there that night. Maybe even thousands. What are the odds that the only three people Kyle shot were felons?
Well, in all actuality, the odds are pretty good. Do I have stats to back this up? No. But I doubt any normal person would be out protesting on a Tuesday night, let alone rioting and setting buildings on fire and chasing people carrying an AR-15 out in the open.
So what am I trying to get at?
The left will send its absolute worst. It’s why they are letting criminals out of jail, or bailing them out once they, surprise, get caught doing something illegal again. It’s why they are legalizing pot and, to my utter astonishment, heroin, crack, and other hard drugs in places like Oregon. It’s why they are pushing for gun control–because they know criminals (the ones they are releasing from jail) know how to get illegal guns, while law-abiding citizens face the prospect of losing theirs. I’ve seen more footage of armed Antifa and BLM protestors pop up recently. And I don’t mean Molotov cocktails or concrete milkshakes. I’m talking handguns and rifles.
So, yes, the leftist politicians are assembling an army and that army is comprised of society’s dregs. The criminals and felons who can’t get jobs, the college kids up past their noses in debt who also can’t get jobs from their worthless degrees, the professors who are indoctrinating these students and literally ruining society because they themselves aren’t in the profession they teach but are teaching people younger than them how to succeed in something they couldn’t. In essence, these are failures. And failures have nothing to lose. They will fight because that is the only way to garner any sort of social contribution. Being a martyr is a fanciful idea to them because life, as meaningless as it is in their eyes, is hopeless anyway.
But on the other hand, the people who are really being affected directly by these stay-at-home orders and nonsensical policies have plenty to lose. They have businesses and careers to lose. They have homes and investments and possessions they’ve worked hard for to lose. They have families to lose. They’ve decided at some point in their life to do things the right way and work hard to accomplish goals and acquire things that make life worth living. They’ve created a legacy worth cherishing and sharing and taking pride in. That is a lot to lose. Will we be willing to risk it all over these bitter, misguided, and hopeless groups of people? Because that is what it will boil down to: everyday citizens figuratively fighting corrupt and power-hungry politicians, but literally fighting the bottom-feeders with absolutely nothing to lose, no legacies to leave behind, no families to mourn them, and no politicians to erect statues in their image.
Too many times we see brave law enforcement officers die at the hands of senseless crimes committed by losers and the evil of this world. If a civil war does break out, I’m afraid we will see much of the same. This time, it won't just be law enforcement or the armed forces.
It’s time we learn from history instead of repeating it. What will you decide to do when the time comes? As for me, I am still undecided. Die in honor or live in cowardice? Though I might not die in battle, the prospect of living through the fight seems much more appealing than watching from the sidelines. Much like voting (which I did for Trump both in 2016 and 2020), I’d rather have a say in the outcome than not. But you don’t die if you vote for the losing candidate. It’s a tough decision. Maybe someone will force me to decide. Is there any honor in that? The way things are going, we just might die for our candidate. It could actually be better than living through the administration of the other. Especially when hardworking people seem to be losing everything and may just end up having nothing else to lose.
Let me know your thoughts? Are you as scared as I? Are you brave beyond just words? What are your thoughts on civil war? Is it coming and are you ready for it?
[1] As of Thursday, December 10, 2020 the United States has recorded ~15.5M cases of COVID-19 with a total number of deaths at ~290k equaling a mortality rate of 1.87 percent (per Google Coronavirus Statistics).
[2] Hurricane Rita death toll of 120, with 7 deaths caused directly from the storm itself translates to a 5.83 percent mortality rate, higher than COVID-19. If Hurricane Rita affected the same amount of people as COVID-19 has up-to-date 903,650 people would have died.
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