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We're Sleepwalking Into Civil War

America’s detractors are right. Americans are too lazy, complacent, and comfortable to act. To do anything to stop this before it gets worse.

I haven't talked politics with my mom in years since I assumed she was still MAGA, but I needed reassurance that both of my parents aren't fascists, so I called her and asked "should the president be able to ignore the constitution" to which I got a "no...?" and "you understand that federal judges ARE allowed to force the president to stop, when he's ignoring the constitution, right?" to which I got a "yes...?" as if I was stupid for asking. She’s an accountant, and has a firmer grasp of economics than most, so I imagine it’s Trump’s tariffs that broke his spell on her, but I digress.

What a relief, because my father answered these questions differently yesterday. This caused a pretty big fight, which he downplayed to her as me just having TDS.

At this point she tried to reassure me with "Now I know you're passionate about this..." But I cut her off saying "Shouldn't I be? Shouldn't every American? Momma I'm scared. I don't think Trump is going to stop ignoring the constitution, and then either the Supreme Court will tell him that he's allowed to ignore it, or they'll have to use the Marshals to force him to stop ignoring it. Neither of which will end well."

silence

"I feel fucking insane. Like I'm the only adult in the country that's thinking about where we're headed, where this ends. I know it’s a hard conversation, I know it isn’t fun, but we start using our words, or we'll start using our bullets, and it will get really bloody, really fast. Am I wrong?"

silence

"And when you do talk to people about where this ends, no one can tell me I'm wrong, except MAGA, but we all know they're just brainwashed at this point, so their opinion can be disregarded."

At that point she broke her silence, to defend my dad, saying "Well you're both just so plugged in..." To which I had to say "No. I'm plugged into everything, and he's wrong. I can't accept that he has all the facts or I have to accept that my father is being un-American."

That's when she feigned slight offense at that comment, saying "Y'know, it's disrespectful to say that when he's my husband..." to which I replied "Momma, it's disrespectful to talk to me like that when I'm trying to talk about what may be the most important topic of our lifetimes. I love you, have a good week."

So yeah. Americans are too lazy, complacent, and comfortable to act. To pressure our politicians into doing their jobs and impeaching Trump. To even really talk about this, because it's scary. I AM NOT ADVOCATING FOR ANY VIOLENCE, but I think it is inevitable if he is not stopped. Because he will not stop himself.

We've blown past all the guardrails, all the checks and balances, to the point that someone who HAS read the constitution will stop him the only way a real American can at that point, if congress doesn't do it first.

It’s entirely possible Trump DOES stop himself. It doesn’t seem all that likely. It’s entirely possible congress WILL stop him. It doesn’t seem likely. What’s left after that?

If you're an American, and this scared you: GOOD. You are not alone. It doesn't have to be this way, and we can avoid it if we make congress DO THEIR ACTUAL JOBS.

If you're European, and this scared you: It should, as you and I both know that America imploding will just make Russian even more bold than they already are.

If you're ANYONE, and reading this scared you, please share the message to anyone that you think it will resonate with. Please help us save our country. I think this is the only way out, and if we all think about it, we all know it's the truth deep down.

Originally Posted By u/hoonyosrs At 2025-04-09 04:20:39 AM | Source

4 comments

  • Americans are too lazy, complacent, and comfortable to act.

    I've gotta disagree. We've been here before. During the Iraq War, we had big street protests. Protests ran straight into 2012, with people chaining themselves to Obama's White House fence in defiance. During the '08 downturn, we had big street protests that took over major downtown districts and lead to mass arrests of demonstrators outside Wall Street. Then we had big Tea Party protests reacting to the influx of liberal officials, driven by right wing news media. We had BLM protests kicking off in earnest in '14 and rolling straight through into COVID. We had COVID protests (misguided perhaps, but hardly complacent or lazy). We had anti-Trump protests in the wake of the '16 election and now we've had another wave just last week.

    I don't see the problem as getting people out the door and into the street. I do see a big problem of "What next?" Where is the party establishment to harness the initial motivation? Where is the organization capable of channeling all the weekend warriors and newly unemployed into constituent organizations?

    I've been to my local DSA meetings and I see all the regulars. But as often as not, they're disorganized and strapped for cash and struggling to build confidence in an organization that isn't getting 24/7 friendly news coverage. I've been to my City Council meetings, and I see people in the audience waiting for city officials to tell them the next moves. And I see the council officials waiting on the mayor. And I see the mayor waiting on the governor. And I see the governor telling his people to fuck around on the border or do some stupid photo op about crime or immigration.

    What is the real actual plan? What are the next moves? Who, even, is in charge of any of this? Who even wrote this post?

    It's easy to call people complacent or comfortable. Its very hard to marshal confidence in your cause and get people to show up at your organization without some kind of cashflow or benefit in-kind. Even the old mainstays of social organizing - your PTAs and churches and political parties - don't seem to know how to get people organized into reliable units for consistent action. Maybe it isn't just that people are too fat and happy. Maybe there's a real problem of communication, trust, and reliability.

    If you were in crisis tomorrow, who would you go to? I'm hard pressed to say, in my current state. But - in theory - we'd be building a kind of institution that answers this question by saying "It's us". I struggle to see where that is being built.

  • A lot to agree with here. I appreciate the story and the conclusions. I am not sure that doomerism is the solution to counteract this. I totally get it though because I am often guilty of just this.

    I think a stronger message is just saying what's is good and what needs to be done. We need to stop focusing on personalities and single minded goals and look to policies that will benefit everyone.

    There is a strong message of what is right in this country still and we should focus on the basics and make it as positive as possible. This is the way forward and it requires a lot of hard work. We have to start giving solutions instead of just pointing fingers.

    I know it is cliche to say we need to think outside the box, but that is really what needs to be done. Our paradigms of politics are holding us back. We are being divided unfairly and focused to pick sides when neither offers a path forward.

    There is no one right solution either. Any good solution done in earnest with goodwill will suffice. Even something like fixing our healthcare system could be done in many ways. We don't even have nationalize it, we could do it like Japan and just have a national fee schedule.

    The author does have one thing completely correct. We are not acting as we should as a whole and that is a major problem. The reasons are far more complex than just laziness, complacency, and comfort.