Mark My Words: American Civil War 2.0

I learned yesterday that my old hometown in Southwest Virginia has organized a militia.

This is an official decree, too, not some good-ol’-boy backwoods drunken hootenanny. According to an article in the “2nd Amendment Daily News:”

On Tuesday, December 10th, the Board of Supervisors passed two different resolutions. The first resolution declared the County to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary. The second promoted the order of militia in the county. When the resolutions passed, the crowd cheered loudly in support of the decision. And they didn’t squeak by–the votes were unanimous, with more than 200 citizens standing by in support.

Let me state unequivocally that this post is not about gun control or the right to bear arms. I do have thoughts about these things and I will share them. But I am not a crusader for either side of this debate. I’ve lived in the U.S. and now I’ve lived for a while in the U.K., and in my opinion, Europe has the States licked hands-down in public safety, morale, and environment. If they’ve done all of this without guns in every household, then there is some merit to the argument against the right to bear arms that I’ve not previously considered. Toronto, Canada is another example of somewhere I feel very safe and comfortable and no citizens there are packing.

On the other hand, I would not dream of living in the U.S. unarmed at this point in time. The crime rate is far too high and political unrest is seething just below the surface. The U.S. is on the brink of disaster and being without lethal protection there is asking for trouble. Here in England, I’m having to consciously deprogram in order to face people on the street without fear, including people wearing hoodies and dark clothing. They’re just protecting themselves from the weather, for crying out loud. Not staging a robbery. In the U.S., suspicion of other people is a necessary way of life. Even in small towns, people you pass on the street may well pose a physical threat, especially late at night. This may be the case in some areas of England as well, like London and Manchester and Birmingham. But not here on the south coast, and like Toronto, not a single citizen is packing.

The “2nd Amendment Daily News” also had this to say:

County Administrator Erc [sic] Young laid out their thought process: “Our position is that Article I, Section 13, of the Constitution of Virginia reserves the right to ‘order’ militia to the localities,” Young said. “Therefore, counties, not the state, determine what types of arms may be carried in their territory and by whom. So, we are ‘ordering’ the militia by making sure everyone can own a weapon.” If the Governor or any other State entity tires to remove their Sheriff from office for disobeying unjust laws, they’ll face a legally assembled group of armed citizens standing against them.

Okay, now this terrifies me. I have never been more thankful that I decided to default on my entire life and flee that county like the hounds of hell were chasing me. I do like the current Sheriff, Brian Hieatt. And I like his Second, Major Harold Heatley. But with an ordinance like this on the books, that community is one injunction away from civil war. Organizing a group of citizens to fight the state government with lethal force? Yikes. I’m glad I’m 5,000 miles away from that debacle. In like fashion, the community is only one bad vote away from despotism. Let a Sheriff with a personal agenda win the next election, and hoo boy. Never say I didn’t tell you so, Tazewell County. I don’t think any of you are thinking far enough ahead.

An Unhappy Prediction

Moving on from the militia drama in my old stomping grounds, I take a pretty dim view about the current political climate in the U.S. overall. I do not blame Donald Trump, either. Good president or bad president, I doubt he’s the devil. U.S. presidents have been puppets from the beginning of time, or at least from the beginning of the modern American political system. Trump resists the strings that pull him, but whether or not this makes him “unfit” is more than I am qualified to judge. Is he someone I’d like to have tea with? Oh, hell no. I think he’s a mouthy orange jackass. But I’ve always thought that, long before he campaigned for the presidency. That is personality we’re talking about, not business or political acumen. Does he have the skills to lead a nation? I honestly don’t know, but I won’t be first in line to swear he doesn’t. I personally think he’s just a distraction right now, and the real powers at play are using him like a tool to incite the country toward internal war.

It’s working.

Hot Water

I don’t know what unexpected events might happen to galvanize the U.S. into solidarity again or what external forces might bring it to its knees. And I certainly don’t claim to have any supernatural powers of foretelling the future. I just know what I see and what common sense suggests. People in America are angry. The great democracy has failed so many of them and the values of our forefathers no longer stand. There is tremendous internal conflict and drama sells newspapers, so there is zero motivation for major media to be socially, ethically, or morally responsible for ameliorating any of it. Elevating current tensions to a fever pitch is definitely on the itinerary. I believe it is not only deliberate, but devastatingly effective. This pot is going to boil over very soon.

One thing I haven’t heard widely discussed in media or in everyday conversation is the imbalance of firearm distribution in the U.S. Those against the right to bear arms are probably not armed. Those who stand with the N.R.A. and support the Second Amendment are most likely armed to the teeth. In the first wave of domestic conflict, if shots are fired, there’s no question about which direction they’ll be fired in, or from whom.

The Bubba Army was “raised on shotgun.” Those guys and gals know how to acquire weapons, how to shoot them, and how to modify them. Many local and municipal police forces are already outgunned by the criminal element. Add to that all the good ol’ boys from the hollers and hills, and the gun-hating liberals won’t stand a chance. People will die, folks. This has the potential to get very, very real. Let the conflict get heated enough, and “don’t tread on me” will become a battle cry. Rioting is not a new thing in America. But this will take it to a whole new level.

So think about it--what then, will be the next action by the U.S. government? Declaring martial law is a distinct possibility. Sending in military troops is a certainty. And I hate to be the one to point this out, but the Bubba Army won’t stand a chance in the face of a full-on armed forces intervention. Brother against brother, father against son, mother against daughter...the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and National Guard have access to weapons that Bubba can’t even imagine. Sad to think they’ll be used on American soil to destroy American citizens, but if fighting breaks out in the streets, Uncle Sam has the upper hand. And the final say. So even though it may look like forming community militias is a grand idea, in the scheme of things, once that first shot is fired, it’s the end of America as we know it. Therefore I’d be very, very careful about suggesting our citizens take up arms against any branch or department of the U.S. government--but, hey. That’s just me.

The Power of a Bullet

What I see happening in America is people trying to replace the power of a vote with the power of a bullet. Yes, generations of bad choices have sent the U.S. spiraling down a drain of self-sabotage that may be impossible now to recover from. But do we really think we’re going to shoot our way out of this? Seriously? I don’t know what the answers are. America is in trouble. I fear for my friends and family who are Stateside on the precipice of what looks to be a very perilous future. Unrest is alive and well in other parts of the world, too. France is in a mess. And then there’s Brexit, which affects me directly. Not to mention the dozens of other nations in turmoil with no reasonable solution on the horizon. Could America benefit from a political coup, organized by the people, for the people? Sure. But someone should have thought about this before we let our corrupt political system and greedy media influencers take over the nation. Now it’s just a matter of dealing with what you have left, and that is most certainly not enough firepower to restore sanity by force. Find some other way, America, before there are too few of you left to make a difference.

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