been saying it since 2021, the US will fall into a civil war. you have a radicalized right with too many armed militias to count and a liberal left which don't possess the firepower to fight back. add ethnic diversity, vast wealth inequality and political ideologies to it to cast the flame.
this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2025
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There are too many self-interested factions with incompatible ideologies. I don't think we're entering into civil war or some collapse but the US will definitely enshittify at a steady pace for the rest of its existence as a nation-state.
Not even his hold on power has to be threatened. This is just people he thinks are yucky. Except for the underage females…they will get an exception.
Can we please take this opportunity to introduce an amendment to the constitution to make it a criminal offense to issue curfews or martial law?
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Civilians are going to be gunned down. The media will paint the victims as violent criminals. In the burbs, Frank Freeway and Mary Minivan won't care, what's on Netflix?
It might start that way, but there's 3.8 million people in just L.A. proper, I think he's deployed too little for the instability of the situation but time will tell.
I don't want to downplay the alarm bells going off over this move. It's definitely as bad as many are saying. On the other hand, I do want to set some right expectations. National guardsmen are modern professional soldiers and, as such, are far more disciplined than average police officers. Civilian casualties are always a possibility, and might even be what this administration wants, but I think it's unlikely that we'll see anything like another Kent State. If anything, I'll bet most of the guardsmen are pretty frustrated with Trump for being called up for bullshit reasons.
I think the problem though is neither side is going to back down which means clashes between troops/police is going to keep escalating until someone at one of these events pushes things too far and the troops/police end up firing on people. Especially as they are most likely going to start trying to push to end the protests through arrests rather then just focusing on control which will just antagonize people more. Realistically what other end scenario is there to this if Trump keeps throwing gasoline on the fire? It's either gonna be a brutal crackdown on the protests with "less then lethal" weapons done by the military or end up being a bloodbath. Either way both outcomes would be horrifying to see happening in America, dictators use the military to put down protests and if we let that happen without any kind of severe backlash then we're pretty much fucked.
"Oh, you have a [baby|upcoming deadline|scheduled holiday] in your regular life? Drop everything and harass these protesters while trying not to worry about regular life "
I'd be frustrated, too.
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This country has already crossed the Rubicon after the events of January 6th in my opinion. What’s we saw in LA was the declaration of war from this administration on its own people. We need to unite, fight, and stand against this tyrannical regime. If the White House is afraid of us now just you wait you pos’s.
Yeah, anyone thinking that there is even a remotely fair election in 2026 and again in 2028 really should come and take a look at that bridge in my backyard that I'm selling...
Don't worry , all of this means that somehow the stock market will rally on Monday and that's really all that matters.
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No no no. When push comes to shove the heroic military will fight against fascism. Ignore all the fucking evidence to the contrary and support the troops.
Not wrong. At "best," we'll see a fracturing of the military...which could be much more trouble than it's worth. I'd expect a small wave of resignations/desertions (since resignation for an officer takes a long time). The remainder of good people will actively try to avoid and sea-lawyer their way out of doing any damage to civilians without violating orders. There will be a good chunk who will happily fire on US civilians, though.
Resignations are only useful in the short term.
In the long term, Resignations provide new opportunities for the loyal to gain power and recruit.
Yep, but those who resign for moral reasons will be more likely to take actual actions to protest/stop what's happening. The military will have a hard time recruiting competent people in that environment, though, and the people taking the vacancies will likely have diminishing competence as time goes on.
To put it in perspective, if more officers retire at 20, they'll generally be O-5s (Lieutenant Colonels or Commanders), and so the next year's promotion cycle will need to promote more O-4s to cover the vacancies. This will then trickle down, and suddenly, you have officers who have been O-3s for just a couple of years being promoted to O-4 rather than waiting longer and gaining experience.
In that scenario, there will be less efficiency in planning and execution and far more incompetence, and if being used against civilians, more brutality. But incompetence is easier to defeat in the long run. Seeing the incompetence and brutality will deprive the military of the smartest recruits who staff the important IT, intelligence, cyber, etc. communities. So, while they may get true believers, a lower proportion will be competent.
No matter how it shakes out, it will get very bad.
The military will have a hard time recruiting competent people in that environment, though,
They don't need competent people. They only need obedient cannon fodder.
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Yep, but those who resign for moral reasons will be more likely to take actual actions to protest/stop what’s happening
No. They won't. Or, to be more blunt, the people who would actually be useful won't. Because they are the ones who understand the world isn't Call of Duty and a single guy with a pistol isn't actually going to Jack Bauer his way through an entire armed escort.
The military will have a hard time recruiting competent people
They already do. That is why the military is dumb as a door knob and full of the kind of people who just want an excuse to shoot some folk whether they are brown or not.
This will then trickle down, and suddenly, you have officers who have been O-3s for just a couple of years being promoted to O-4 rather than waiting longer and gaining experience.
Oh, well then. That will solve everything.
The ASVAB was pretty basic when I took it. Fortunately, a health condition at the time kept me from basic.
Breathe. We will get through this, and how is a question worth considering, as the commenter above was doing before your sweaty takedown.
If you need to share this burden of despair with someone, my DMs are open. Spreading it among comrades is not OK.
We convince officers and other respected leaders to coup at the right time at the right signal.
But we also accept that the Grunts and dumbasses are gonna dumbass. Maybe you can get like an E-8 or E-9 on our side but don't give much effort to E-3 or E-5.
But sitting around hoping that the military just magically appears on our side (that leans hard into Libertarianism at best and outright far right hooo rah at worst) is dumb.
I’m addressing an instance of doomerism. Participation of current or former military in the rebellion occupies my thoughts far less than that, currently.
Doomerism on the correct contexts is correct.
We shouldn't expect a military coup on this issue. The vast majority of soldiers will take the side of Police and ICE on this issue and proudly stand by them.
Doomerism here allows us to focus our efforts elsewhere, where it'd be more fruitful to strike back vs Trump.
You’re describing pragmatism, a solutions-oriented mindset.
I’m referring to left’s problem with edgy despair evangelists suffering from a deliberately propagated fascist contagion that must be recognized and treated rather than allowed to spread.
Why? Because it deactivates would-be activists (including, for example, voters who had the chance to prevent this fascist takeover). It is not harmless. It must be addressed.
It is not even that they "will" take the side of fascism. They already have at every step of the way.
We can sit thinking warm and cheery thoughts. Or we can think about what it will mean to survive for people who aren't privileged enough to be a cishet white guy without any history of giving a shit about other human beings.
It takes active recruitment if we want the military on the side of the people.
They should stop lying and using recruits as guinea pigs then
MAYBE that would have worked on the "I just want to go to college" Desert Storm kids.
We spent the better part of 20 years at continual war training an army to commit atrocities in the name of "peace keeping". Anybody joining under those circumstances either started out brainwashed ("My daddy and his daddy and his daddy were all marines!") or are basically cops who just want an excuse to wave a gun around.
At best? We are looking at the equivalent of trotting out liz cheney at the DNC. Sure there are "moderates" who might be won over. But the moment they hear that somebody doesn't like whatever "moderate" belief they have they'll go straight maga and then insist it is your fault for not winning their vote by slaughtering a few trans kids.
"What makes the green grass grow?!”
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In addition, the Secretary of Defense may employ any other members of the regular Armed Forces as necessary to augment and support the protection of Federal functions and property in any number determined appropriate in his discretion.
Yup. And so he can purge anyone that doesn't follow orders. This is what you voted for protest-non-voters.