How Civil Wars Start

As Voltaire once said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

Matthew Yglesias noted on Twitter: “
It’s kinda weird that deplatforming Trump just like completely worked with no visible downside whatsoever.”)

“leadership decapitation,” which involves imprisoning the leader or leaders of a terrorist group to hasten its collapse.

We need to undo fifty years of declining social services, invest in safety nets and human capital across racial and religious lines, and prioritize high-quality early education, universal healthcare, and a higher minimum wage.

We are more prepared, as a country, to counter foreign enemies such as al-Qaeda than we are to disarm the warriors in our midst, even though the latter are currently more virulent and dangerous.

Ethnic groups, especially those in decline, often fight a second civil war because the conditions that drove their original grievances either haven’t been addressed or have worsened.

Faith in government has plummeted: From 1964 to
2019, the share of Americans who trust those in Washington to do “what is right” tumbled from 77 percent to 17 percent.

it won’t be left-wing groups that instigate the ultimate clash.

stages eight and nine—“persecution” and “extermination”—and then the final stage, “denial,”

stage seven. Known as the “preparation”