American Civil War: Political Violence and Societal Breakdown
#441 - The Threat of Civil War
Resources
Books
- "The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future" by Stephen Marsh - This book explores plausible scenarios for a civil war in the 21st century United States, based on political and decline models, and interviews with various groups.
Videos & Documentaries
- "Civil War" (film) - Mentioned as an entertaining but perhaps journalistically inaccurate depiction of a civil war, though emotionally resonant.
Research & Studies
- Pete Priyo's models of civil war - Used as a basis for understanding and projecting potential civil war scenarios in the book.
- Study out of India on Muslim spending power and Hindu violence - Presented as an example of how rising economic parity can correlate with increased violence, reflecting a broader aspect of human nature.
- Robert Putnam's research on declining social trust - Discussed in relation to the erosion of trust in institutions.
- CIA threat multiplier concept - Used to describe how various stressors (economic, political, social) combine to increase risk.
- Psychological studies on personality traits in four regions of the US - Used as a basis for a hypothetical partition map.
Tools & Software
- TikTok - Mentioned as a platform where political figures are creating content instead of governing.
Articles & Papers
- "The Next Civil War" (magazine article) - The initial piece written by Stephen Marsh in 2018 that served as the foundation for his book.
People Mentioned
- Stephen Miller - His eulogy at the Charlie Kirk memorial was described as "unhinged."
- Laura Loomer - Mentioned as a figure who might be involved in rewriting the constitution in a hypothetical scenario.
- Steve Bannon - Mentioned as a figure who might be involved in rewriting the constitution in a hypothetical scenario.
- Newt Gingrich - Referenced for his long-standing partisan view of politics.
- Richard Spencer - Interviewed by the host in 2016, he spoke about the "myth of the Second World War" dying.
- Pritzker - Mentioned in the context of California's potential options due to the fading constitutional order.
- Newsom - Mentioned in the context of California's potential options due to the fading constitutional order.
Organizations & Institutions
- The Atlantic - Marsh has written cover stories and features for this publication.
- The New Yorker - Marsh has written cover stories and features for this publication.
- The New York Times - Marsh has written cover stories and features for this publication.
- Esquire - Marsh was a columnist for this magazine for many years and studied pop culture for them.
- The FBI - Mentioned in the context of how they might categorize political murders, especially under Trump administration control.
- The CDC - Mentioned in the context of states forming their own de facto national health authority.
- The Supreme Court - Mentioned as an institution whose trust has eroded and is being rapidly dismantled.
- The CIA - Mentioned in relation to their concept of "threat multipliers."
- The Taliban - Used as an example of a group that grows when suppressed.
- The Troubles in Ireland - Used as a potential best-case scenario for political violence in the US.
- Syria - Used as a potential worst-case scenario for political violence in the US.
- The IRS - Implicitly referenced in the discussion of property taxes and government overreach.
Courses & Educational Resources
- Whole society defense (Finland's strategy with Russia) - Presented as a model Canada might adopt.
Websites & Online Resources
- Twitter - Elon Musk's tweet about the left being the party of murder was mentioned.
Other Resources
- Sovereign citizenry - Mentioned as a belief system within the anti-government patriot movement.
- Antifa - Discussed as a left-wing group, though not comparable in capacity for violence to right-wing extremist groups.
- Portland CHAZ - Mentioned as an example of organized left-wing groups with aspirations to overthrow the prison system.
- Maga cult - Referenced in the context of lawmakers' fear of impeachment.
- January 6th protesters - Described as considering themselves political prisoners.