New War In America / Texas

[Sucuk Ekmek]

Cool stuff, stay safe guys!

[Emissary]

Interesting developments. New Civil War is far fetched, sounds like sensationalism. Perhaps some localized shootings/riots will take place.

[zazen]

Highly unlikely to lead to civil war but still divisive. Biden also will be pausing pending approvals of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports which Texas is the leading state of, possibly punishment? If Texas were to secede from US and become part of BRICS its acronym would be BRISCT - as in beef brisket lol.

This has devastating effects on Europe / Germany.  If someone were to be conspiratorial it seems the events that haven taken place over the past 3 years seem perfectly aligned with the US monopolizing energy and destroying the European economy (Euro) and German industrial competition. Detach Germany from Russian energy (Nordstream pipeline destroyed?), aggravate trade routes in the red sea by escalating against Houthis which inflates energy costs to Europe and make them even more dependent on US energy. Now, this to squeeze them.

[zazen]

There are profiteers deeply entrenched in this on both sides of the border. Those engaged in the illicit trade of human smuggling are reaping financial gains through bribes and charging exorbitant fees for each person they transport. Meanwhile, the migrants who are stuck in a web of desperation often find themselves indebted to these ruthless cartels and traffickers, forced into labor under deplorable conditions, and earning barely enough to live on after repaying debts. Modern day slavery.

They are sold the 'American Dream' but are being instrumentalized for ends they aren't aware of. Exploitation is emblematic of a broader system where the vulnerable are preyed upon by bad actors for the sake of their own enrichment.

The whole issue of illegal migration is cynically used as a political pawn. Because conservatives have far right groups who hitch onto the political ride and express racist views, that xenophobia is then associated to conservatism and gets presented as 'conservative xenophobia' when its literally common consensus around the world to not encourage illegal immigration and have strong borders. No doubt that the far right can amplify this to galvanize support for politics, but so can the other side and vested interests downplay the risks of not cracking down on illegal migration fast enough due to fears of seeming 'racist' or not caring enough when it really is the least caring thing to incentivise a system of exploitation the realities of which go over most peoples heads.

Edited January 27 by zazen

[rnd]

May I use the logic that Europe and US would've used if a similar event took place in, let's say, Iran?

Poor people of Texas! Look at them! They're so sick of the Biden's regime and his iron feast that they have no choise to defy his orders. Biden's order is a threat to the freedom of self-determination and self-expression. We, the democrasys of the world, should be on the side of the people of Texas. We should send weapons to them to help them to protect themselves and overthrow the Biden's regime. If they want to break out from the US, they must be allowed to do so. Biden's bloody dictatorship must fall!

Edited January 27 by rnd

[DocWatts]

On 1/26/2024 at 5:34 PM, Emissary said:

Interesting developments. New Civil War is far fetched, sounds like sensationalism. Perhaps some localized shootings/riots will take place.

Unfortunately what we're seeing, and have been seeing, is a normalization of political violence. While a full blown civil war seems unlikely, localized shootings, coup attempts, and assassinations are likely to continue at an accelerated pace.

A scary side effect of this normalization of violence is that if America does backslide into an authoritarian form of government (whether through a Trump dictatorship, or through an eventual successor to the MAGA cult), this is preparing (or 'grooming', as much as I dislike the word) segments of the American public to accept violent oppression of dissent by state as an acceptable practice. Or at the very least, not to be shocked by forms of political violence and state oppression that have been common in other parts of the world, but haven't become the norm in the States.

Edited January 28 by DocWatts

[Yimpa]

One of the most surprising things I discovered when I first moved to Texas is how the Governor's Mansion is located inside one of the most progressive parts of the US (Austin). The juxtaposition is quite funny.

[BlueOak]

Cable news will rot your brain if you listen to it too much. A civil war requires millions of people willing to organize and kill their neighbors. Most would understandably not want war, but if its on your doorstep with those you love or know dying, its 100 times worse meaning even fewer people will want such a thing. Nobody speaking truthfully like this has been in any kind of conflict, they are talking heads paid to sensationalize news.

What the Republicans want is two-fold, to portray Biden as 'not the safe candidate or milk toast candidate' that middle America votes for, and use radicals or fear as a way to pressure for more control over their own states. The idiocy in this is it could either reignite a movement to split the US up or normalize political violence, and then they will say 'oh not us we just happened to say words that people took seriously'. This passive-aggressive way of using people is manipulative and dangerous. 

This is a more sober view, from an actual combat veteran with experience of border issues. I don't always agree with him but here he breaks down who has authority sensibly and who can or cannot do what.

 

Edited January 29 by BlueOak