In last week’s Dispatch, I gave examples of three “elites” warning of a financial crisis and potential for a domestic conflict. Steve Bannon (a former Goldman Sachs banker), who predicted younger generations will be impoverished; millionaire investor Nick Hanauer, who warned of ‘mobs with pitch forks’ rising up against financial elites; and hedge fund founder Ray Dalio, who expressed his concern about the next financial crisis/recession and the potential for civil strife. There are others who have similarly warned of civil unrest or wars.
A short time ago, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) gave a speech where he boiled down America’s future to a stark choice between “federalism or violence”. (I wrote about that in last week’s National Intelligence Bulletin.)
Since I led with Bannon last week, I was interested in what left wing politicians and commentators had to say about the future. Here’s some of what I found:
First up, here’s Charles Blow, writing for the New York Times about the potential for instability regarding the Mueller report and a possible Trump impeachment. Blow believes that America’s darkest days are just ahead:
“In short, I don’t believe we are reaching the end of a nightmare, but rather we are entering one. This will not get easier, but harder. The country is about to enter the crucible. This test [Trump impeachment] of our republic is without a true comparison. And we do not have a clear picture of how the test will resolve. But, I believe damage is certain.” [source]
A couple months ago, we had actor James Cromwell warn of revolution and “blood in the streets” if the Democrats didn’t stop Trump. One wonders if this quote wouldn’t still be in play for a 2020 re-election:
“This is nascent fascism. We always had a turnkey, totalitarian state — all we needed was an excuse, and all the institutions were in place to turn this into pure fascism,” he said. “If we don’t stop [President Trump] now, then we will have a revolution for real. Then there will be blood in the streets.” [source]
Just before that, outgoing Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) warned that America seemed to resemble Rwanda, before that country’s genocide in which 800,000 were murdered.
“When a place gets so tribal that the two tribes won’t have anything to do with each other … that jealousy turns into hate,” Nelson said. “And we saw what happened to the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda, it turned into a genocide. A million-people hacked to death within a few months. And we have got to watch what’s happening here.” [source]
More recently, Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum warns that the turmoil happening in Paris could also threaten other Western countries.
Most of the rest of the democratic world is or will face the same kinds of [political revolts against elites]. If presidents, parliaments, existing parties and existing institutions can find ways to listen to [the people], to incorporate them and change with them, then democracy will survive in the 21st century. If they don’t, it might not. [source]
Sure, these are just words so far. But they do show that at least some on the Left are considering the possibility of a tumultuous future. And we can look at similar words — like the comments of Rep. Swalwell (D-CA) on the government having nukes in response to a question about gun confiscation [source], or a Democratic Illinois state representative’s expressed desire to see a Republican colleague’s family die [source] — and lots of other words to see that maybe both sides are considering the potential for a conflict.
I’ll finish up with this. We’ve lived through Republicans arming and organizing themselves for eight years of Obama, and we’ve seen the beginnings of Left wing groups arming themselves during the Trump era. The pictures below are of members of the left wing Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club, taken during a protest this past weekend in Seattle. For now, don’t focus on how well armed or capable they look — just recognize that steps continue being taken by left wing groups to arm and train. That’s significant.
Via Facebook
Via Andy Ngo
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