Actually, We Are Already in the Middle of a Second American Civil War

Same players, same goals, same stakes … how will it end this time?

Steve Genco

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A January 6 rioter stands in the US Capital carrying a large Confederate flag.
A Trump supporter brings the Confederate Flag into the US Capitol on 6 January. Source

It is no coincidence that the Confederate Flag is the symbol of the MAGA movement.

It is no coincidence that today’s most radical Red States are former members of the Confederacy.

It is no coincidence that all of our radical Red States want to hide from American children any accurate depiction of the reasons for, and consequences of, the first American Civil War that the Confederacy started and lost, at a cost of over 620,000 lives.

It is no coincidence that today’s rebellion — just like the last one — is being funded by rich property owners (then: plantation owners, now: tech billionaires) who believe any extension of rights and liberties to new constituencies is a threat to their financial interests.

It is no coincidence that the “way of life” today’s rebels want to return to demands the subjugation of one arbitrarily-defined group of humans (then: slaves, now: women, blacks, people of color, gay and trans people, immigrants … a long list!) by another arbitrarily-defined group of humans (then: white males, now: white males).

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Steve Genco

Steve is author of Intuitive Marketing (2019) & Neuromarketing for Dummies (2013). He holds a PhD in Political Science from Stanford University.