What’s going on in America? It seems that the country might be nearer to civil war than at any other time since 1861.

With former US President Donald Trump threatening “death and destruction” in America if he’s indicted by Alvin Bragg, the New York district attorney who is investigating slush payments that he is said to have authorised to former porn star Stormy Daniels; calling Alvin Bragg an animal and a psychopath; and using racist rhetoric causing numerous death threats to be levelled at Bragg, I am sorry to say that America is rapidly speeding towards a really violent political and civil upheaval.

America’s enormous military might won’t save her from civil war because the country is beset by a number of conflicts not only abroad, but, pre-eminently, at home. On one hand there is a political and military conflict with Russia and on the other there is political and now a potential military showdown with China. But these foreign crises, although very severe, take second place to the internal rot that is now evident in America.

Historically, a nation’s decline usually starts from inside, and America’s decline is being initiated by Trump’s unwittingly violent and incendiary tirade against most of America. Trump’s bellicose and angry rhetoric is galvanising his cultist followers to carry out his rabid demands to “take back America”; to “make America great again”; and to make America an “Anglo-Saxon Christian” country as he claims it once was.

So the next rebellion here will make the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol in Washington DC look like a picnic. The forthcoming rebellion will be like a rerun of the civil war. The first one was fought over the issue of black slavery, but the next one will be fought for the maintenance of white supremacy, the establishment of autocracy, and the elimination of popular democracy.

Trump seems likely to become the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential race. The prosepects of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who was being proffered as the Republican’s knight in shining armour to replace Trump as its candidate (although he has not yet officially announced his intention to run for president), are being diminished as the days go by, based on current public opinion polls.

Yes, DeSantis may be popular in Florida, but nationwide his anti-woke agenda is not seen as a recipe for keeping America foremost in the competitive race for world dominance.

So, at the moment, it seems that there is going to be a likely matchup once again between Joe Biden and Trump. And the polls are telling us that were an election to be held now, Biden would have a small advantage over Trump to be returned as president.

However, 2024 is quite some ways off, in terms of predicting political outcomes. But if Biden were to win the presidency again instead of Trump, the latter would no doubt still deny that he had lost. However, if Trump were to win, that would indeed be the end of America as we know it.

What a mess!

The same seems to be happening in other parts of the world, such as Israel, where Benjamin Netanyahu is being accused of wanting to set himself up as dictator for life, but many in Israel do not want another dictator in the Middle East. Nonetheless, that’s the way the world seems to be going these days, dictators, autocrats, and despots believe that the world would function better under their personal management.

Such a world would no longer be a desirable place for those of its inhabitants who cherish the notion of justice, peace, freedom, prosperity, and a reduction in armed conflicts.

merleneg@yahoo.com