Stop Calling it Civil War (MSNBC clip)
Civil War, it's a phrase that right-wing extremists (lots of them Christo-fascists) like to banter about in reference to today's culture war. Because let's be real, while many of these armed domestic terrorists are serious about killing people, there is no war between states about to break out. It's largely an ideological war, or a war of ideas.
To be fair, that's what was boiling to a crescendo in the late 1850's--the vast differences in ideals, in ways of living and looking at the world. In the 19th century, those in the agrarian culture of the south, which depended largely on a slave labor force, did not see the world the same as those in the industrialized culture of northern cities. It was a war of ideas...at first.
That's where the similarities to 2022 end.
No one today is taking up arms to defend their home state, the virtues of country living or slavery. No states (besides maybe Texas) see themselves as wholly separate from the union (the U.S.). None of those "rogue" states are threatening succession or forming militias. That would constitute a revolt much like the Civil War.
That is not happening.
No, today's culture war is over change. This change has been happening gradually since before I was born in the 1960's. Historians call this segment of our brief history "the cultural revolution." It was going on while my parents were in junior high and high school. Their world was turning upside down. I was born at the height of the Vietnam War. That war was crucial to the turning of the tide and quickening the "revolution." The war of ideas between the Depression Era babies and their "baby boomer" offspring was the beginning of the new "civil war."
It was no longer north v. south, agrarian v. industrial, slave v. free labor...no, this was about Leave It To Beaver v. Three's Company. Let's face it, we grew up in the TV generation. It was Father Knows Best v. Bewitched/Maude/Alice (insert female heroine-themed show here). It was Bonanza/Little House v. Good Times/Sanford and Sons. Okay, enough with the cultural TV references.
My parents were raised on that line of division. They shunned most of the "hippie ideals" of their generation and became entrenched in the Reagan Republicanism of the 1980's with it's "moral majority" and good fight against communism and "the devil."
Fast forward to common time and we see the "moral majority," shrinking into the dark corners of the web (Q'Anon, Proud Boys, etc). We see that Christo-fascist minority, still clinging to the ideals of Jerry Falwell and the like, becoming more entrenched. If you ask them, they are under persecution by the left, the media, "the gays," etc. They've become adept at demonizing ANYTHING different. They'd be happier if we just returned to the "good ol' days" of Father Knows Best and Leave It To Beaver...back to a time when minorities and women "knew their place."
That's at the heart of this culture war, at least for those of my parents' generation on the right side of this "civil war," they want to live in the past. They yearn for the glory days of their youth (think American Graffiti or Happy Days). Because for white, American males, they still dominated our culture--everything from mass media (news, TV, movies, magazines, advertising) to the pulpit. Those aging boomers feel like they are losing their grip on society. It began with removing prayer from school, just ask them.
And at some level, I get it. You are resistant to change. You fear the new norms of society--openly gay marriage, for instance--only because it is foreign to you and you don't understand it. That part of the culture war, due to the generational gap, is understandable. It's relatable. It's nothing new.
What's so scary about TODAY's Culture War is how it seems to be dividing my generation and the youth in this country.
When Roe v. Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court, taking us back to the 1950's, in effect, you saw LOTS of young people counter-protesting and applauding the stripping of women of bodily autonomy. I was struck by all the young pro-lifers my daughters age taking to the streets to celebrate this "victory" for "morality."
And then there's the domestic terrorist, much younger than me, armed to the teeth and willing to go down in a "blaze of glory" to defend the old-fashioned ideals I've spoken of here. That's what baffles me. Even as a white male, what sense does it make to regress back to 1950's ideals, like on Father Knows Best? Why would someone who's benefited from the progresses we've made, want to go back to decades before they were even born?? That truly baffles me.
Why would someone like Donald Drumpf appeal to these young right-wing extremists?
Is it just his "fuck the system" approach to governing and the rule of law?
I get that these people, persecuted as they are, feel disenfranchised. I think many of us feel that way about our system of government. It's about as corrupt as a third-world country, just with a lot more money trading hands! But those of us on the, dare I say (and out myself) on the EXTREME LEFT, want to fight not with weapons, but with the pen, with a change in our structure of government.
Our aim is NOT to revert backwards, but to keep pushing the country FORWARD! Let's keep pushing boundaries and see how great we can become. Let's live by the ideals set forth in our Constitution, that EVERY person is created equal (though I'd argue the creationism part). There's no need to take up arms to do that.
THAT SAID, if this culture war WERE to devolve into actual violence, with people taking up arms, then COUNT ME IN!
Yes, I said it.
There are those of us on the left who WOULD ALSO DIE to defend our freedoms and our way of life. It slices both ways.
But let's be real, this IS NOT CIVIL WAR...and shouldn't become one, either. It's simply a war of ideals--one part (a small one) of the country, mostly in fly-over/rural states, wants to go back and the rest of us (a large majority) want to move forward. It's really that simple. It's been going on my whole lifetime, and even predates me by a generation.
Let's not return to the 1950's, despite the Supreme Court, and states like my own, Indiana, putting unConstitutional laws in place restricting a woman's right to bodily autonomy. Heck, even CORPSES have bodily autonomy in that you can't harvest organs without consent. So why can you harvest babies? Fodder for another blog post, I suppose.
This is NOT a Civil War, so quit calling it that. Quit rattling your sabres and threatening widespread violence. One attack on a local FBI office and a guy driving into a DC barricade before shooting himself IS. NOT. A DECLARATION OF WAR! You are a bunch of weak, wannabe soldiers. Just stop! /end rant/
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