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WAR IS COMING! 50% of Americans believe country is headed for CIVIL WAR in next few years

University public health expert Garen Wintemute, who led the study, described his findings as 'pretty grim' and that they 'exceeded our worst expectations'
PUBLISHED JUL 21, 2022
Police officers face a riot during a protest against the killing of Daunte Wright on April 12, 2021, in Portland, Oregon (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Police officers face a riot during a protest against the killing of Daunte Wright on April 12, 2021, in Portland, Oregon (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

A shocking new study has found that half of Americans expect to see a second civil war within years, while nearly a fifth say they would be armed with guns at a political skirmish themselves.

Distressing levels of "alienation," "mistrust," and a growing tendency to resort to violence were uncovered by researchers at the University of California, Davis, in their recent survey of 8,620 adults across the US. They found that more than two-thirds of respondents said they perceived a "serious threat to our democracy," while more than half agreed that "in the next few years, there will be civil war in the US." Over 40 per cent noted the importance of having a "strong leader" over democracy, while also agreeing that "native-born white people are being replaced by immigrants."

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According to the study, there is a growing tendency to settle political disagreements with violence. Almost a fifth of respondents told them that it was likely they would be "armed with a gun" at a political flash point in the next couple of years, while four per cent admitted it was likely they would "shoot someone with a gun."

Portland police and Oregon State Patrol officers work together to arrest a protester in front of the Portland Police Bureau North Precinct on the 75th day of protests against racial injustice and police brutality on August 11, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. Crowd sizes began growing again last week as protesters regularly march on city and county law enforcement buildings.
Portland police and Oregon State Patrol officers work together to arrest a protester in front of the Portland Police Bureau North Precinct on the 75th day of protests against racial injustice and police brutality on August 11, 2020, in Portland, Oregon (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

University public health expert Garen Wintemute, who led the study, described his findings as "pretty grim" and that they "exceeded our worst expectations". However, the expert said there was still some "hope" considering most respondents "rejected political violence altogether."

Wintemute noted that the study was a wake-up call for people to "recognize the threat" and respond accordingly. The 42-page document described a "continuing alienation from and mistrust of American democratic society and its institutions," adding that "substantial minorities of the population" endorsed "violence, including lethal violence, to obtain political objectives."

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election.
Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

The study comes at the heels of a spate of mass shootings across the country, including a July 4 parade in a Chicago suburb, an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Some other key moments that contributed to the growing tensions include the January 6 Capitol riot and frequent clashes between cops and Black Lives Matter activists in the past couple of years.

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Last month, a similar study led by Tulchin Research and the Southern Poverty Law Center found that 44 per cent of Americans believed the nation was headed toward another civil war. Meanwhile, a YouGov survey last week noted growing calls for secession of multiple states from the union. More than a third of former President Donald J Trump's supporters living in red states said they would be "better off" if their state split from the center, while another 29 per cent of Trump fans believed such a secession would leave them "worse off." The status quo is nearly two years after President Joe Biden's promise to "unite" and "heal" the country following the political turmoil under his predecessor. 

It's worth noting that more than 600,000 soldiers lost their lives during the US Civil War from 1861-1865 when southern states fought to break from the union in order to maintain their slave-driven plantation economies, the Daily Mail reported.

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