Civil War

For us members of the so-called "millennial generation" paranoia is probably ingrained into the D.N.A. it comes in my >opinion, from the rippling effect of two major traumas that we endured collectively in adolescence. the first is the >attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001 and the second is the global financial collapse of 2008.

this doesn't put us the position of victims, on the contrary- trauma often leads to forms of aggression. in fact I know that millennial humor is on the whole, amongst the most cynical, dark, self-aware and meta-modernist in human history. this, I think, comes from a special state of cognitive dissonance that is evident in our culture. an unsettling tension between a bleak outlook on the future (or a sober understanding that western civilization is in decay) with an evergrowing economy and unprecedented growth.

One reason for said dissonance can be that kids born in the 1980's, were on average more sheltered then previous generations. another is we were consistently fed the following narrative by media and the educations system:
that the world is becoming safer. that the collapse of the Soviet Union meant armed conflict is becoming more rare, worldwide. that values of liberalism are claiming their victory finally, and that the stabilization and financial growth of the 90's, in developed AND developing countries, are the result of it. I do not wish to exclude the developing world as I know that the presence of the new global order was much felt by kids growing in developing countries as by me. kids in Israel and in most other places dreamt of living the American lifestyle.

9/11 was the first tear in our collective conscious that exposed us to a troubling view of reality. NO PLACE WAS SAFE. I still carry around the memories of suicide terror attacks in the 90's, so Israel was much less safe (believe it or not) then it is today. I still get fearful when I ride the bus to work, nearly daily. 9/11 was different because very few people who were young believed that terrorism is not a phenomenon exclusive to the middle east.

the constant anxiety of being attacked stopped being a middle-eastern disorder and started spreading.

The second traumatic event that is shared in the memory of my generation is the financial meltdown. it was when the infallible, unsinkable American led capitalistic financial behemoth took a major blow. it did not affect every person the same, but it established a fear in people that financial downturns are becoming more frequent. it opened up the rift in social cohesion and gave way to a wave of disagreement between socio-economic strata in western countries.

The effect of the crisis was felt worldwide. the first result of the crisis in the political sphere was the reappearance of anti-globalist protest movements like occupy wall street. the second is a gradually increasing wave of socialist views that flooded the younger generations. studies show that current day college-age people have the largest affinity for collectivist and socialist ideas compared to previous generations. needless to say that the educations system contributed to this effect. as there was a massive replacement of education professionals that are more conservative or right leaning by left-leaning ones throughout the 80's and 90's. this happened as education approaches that the political left took favor to, became popular in the 80's. again, this shift was global.

For you guys that already know all this, I'm sorry to have gone through such descriptions- but I wanted to paint the picture the way I see it, the contextualizes for me the events of recent days:

I hear about the news of political derangement coming from the US. as I follow political pundits and alternative new outlets on youtube I've began noticing the following: the MSM began to deal increasingly with the notion of a new civil war in the U.S. the idea is that the political disagreement between President Trump supporters and opposers is so strong- that it could lead to a breach of peace and violent attacks. I seriously doubt the possibility of a new civil war becoming a reality in the near future. that is because I'm aware of how few citizens, especially in the U.S take the active part in politics. Gladly the majority of folks have the common wisdom to avoid conflict on political grounds amongst themselves. sure, the animosity is stronger towards a person that is not a relative or colleague. it is harder to debate a stranger then it is to cuss him or attack him/her.

I do understand how difficult it is to be challenged by a political argument and not respond, even when you quietly determine in your head that it doesn't worth the hassle. but I respect people with unique views that choose not to censor themselves, even at a great risk. given how free speech is being suppressed nowadays.

But all and all, I believe that the public peace is preferable in many everyday situations to an argument. Israel is no stranger to political stratification. It got worse in the last decade as the left is pushed off the center of the political map and defends itself from the extremes. As many of you know populism is a global trend at the moment. while I don't believe that we are on the cusp of a civil war (in the U.S or Europe), or as many predict a WW3, the probability of such event is growing larger and larger. maybe the threat is not imminent, but it is sadly on the horizon.

The effort of the ruling elites to escalate political tensions is visible and bluntly obvious. This is a bad moment in the history of our world, and while I try to avoid all loss of hope, I have to conclude that the only way this generation can carry the impossible burden posed on it is to rediscover common sense. It seems impractical to thinks of troubling times when during an economic boom, but for those who can read the signs on the wall the through becomes a sore black cloud that stands to throw us all of the balance. I mean, when you are very pessimistic it becomes a detriment to your lifestyle and mental health. for a couple of years when I was bitter about my personal financial situation I was sure that the next big bubble explosion in the global economy is imminent. when the "perma-bear" youtube journalists that I admire and enjoy ramped up their pessimism, I was sure the next meltdown is a matter of days. in the meanwhile, the crypto bubble has burst, and the "irrational exuberance" in the stock markets continues to break new records.
And I was still broke, and bitter. but now I'm in a situation where I want to believe that the big short could be avoided. at least I should try to do my best to grow personally, and do more and be more active in the Steem community.. so I will be better prepared for such possibility.

I hope to post again in more peaceful days and I hope all the best, prosperity and love to you guys here on steemit. I'll write more about the drawin g when I get the time. thank you for following and commenting on my content and have a fantastic week!