Fear of America descending into civil war

[Peterthegreatworrier]

Hey everyone.

Although I live in Australia, the current riots, agressive rhetoric of the president and the presence in the unrest of a (small) number of radical groups over in America is getting me worried that a full on civil war could start there, like that in Syria. I just have visions of protesters getting mowed down by live fire, a popular uprising and then military defections resulting in a full scale armed conflict.
Realistically, I know this scenario is extremely unlikely. America has had a long history of civil unrest and there have been far worse incidences throughout the 20th century, and the circumstances that brought about civil war in Syria for example were very different (America's not a highly authoritarian police state for one thing). It's just the possibility which is getting me really worked up. I chat to a lot of people from America online and so I'm concerned about their safety and dreading the situation exploding.

[FrankT]

America's not a highly authoritarian police state for one thing

It is now!

[AntsyVee]

Most people that I've run into seem to think that George Floyd was a victim of police brutality. Maybe this one issue will finally unite us.

I have GAD, and this unrest has not been easy to deal with at times, but I have to keep a hopeful outlook. If I get too negative, then I risk falling down into the spiral.

[phil06]

Yes I seen protests in London very worrying that this could spiral into lots of unrest..

[Lencoboy]

Yes I seen protests in London very worrying that this could spiral into lots of unrest..

Demonstrate peacefully and responsibly in 'solidarity' (and ultimately with appropriate social distancing) by all means, but full-on 'riots' involving widespread pilfering, vandalism, arson, punch-ups, etc, just for the sake of it here in the UK would be totally inappropriate and a waste of time IMO, and inadvertently exacerbating people's existing fear and MH problems all the more, which would be the last thing we need right now amid a global virus pandemic.

Unfortunately, some people seem to get sucked into the so-called 'pack mentality', especially those that get riled up by misinformation, CTs and OTT stuff in general, both on social media and through real-life hearsay/word-of-mouth.

[FrankT]

It's getting worse... protesters are getting mowed down by live fire now!

[Fishmanpa]

We'll see what happens tonight.... It's the making of the next Fort Sumpter.

Positive thoughts

[FrankT]

Wait, what's happening tonight?

[Fishmanpa]

Wait, what's happening tonight?

1st Tweety rally since March... 10's of thousands descending on Tulsa, Oklahoma and Tulsa is a hot spot for COVID right now. They made anyone attending sign a waiver they won't sue if they get sick. You know Tweety and his staff won't be wearing masks... So 20K crammed into an arena with no protection or social distancing. Add to that the anti-Tweetys and it has the making of a local MAGA outbreak Nice eh?

Positive thoughts

[FrankT]

Why do you call him "Tweety"?