The New Civil War

In much the same way our media had ignored the pirate activity that has been going on for many years on the other side of the world, they are ignoring another crises that mirrors our own situation in many ways. In Thailand there is a civil war brewing. There have been violent protests and even assanation attempts. It is a battle over Idiology and government control. It is a fight between freedom and security.

I do believe that we are on the edge of a similar war and I've been trying to figure out how it will happen. We like to think of a civil war in terms of our own historical battle between the North and South where battle lines were clearly drawn but many civil wars are far less civil than that. Many wars are fought from person to person, house to house or neighborhood to neighborhood. Small but lethal clashes between opposing factions who intend to gain the majority through genicide.

In Thailand the forces are generally divided by area but are not fighting in that manner. They are dawning their colors and taking their fights to the streets. On one side you have the Red shirts,The National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD). This group supported the 1997 Constitution which de-centralized the government and greatly increased human rights. They do support a certain amount of socialism such as welfare and universal healthcare. They were led by Thaksin Shinawatra who was deposed by a military coup in 2006.

On the other side you have the Yellow shirts, The People's Alliance for Democracy. They supported the military coup that deposed the former leader and are led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul and Major General Chamlong Srimuang. Though the media considers this group conservitive they are opposed to representative democracy. They feel that the nations welfare is best left to the wisdom of it's elitists.

As you can see, their politics are a strange blend of our own but that's not the point. The chord that this story struck with me is the potential for nationwide violence. The entire nation has just come off of a "State of emergency" that begun with an outbreak of violence that erupted during a protest two weeks ago. The anger between the two sides is now elevated and there will be much more bloodshed to come. Bangkok is nothing but a crystal ball that gives us a foggy account of our own future but we along with our media are not willing to face the reality that the first shots of our civil war have already been fired.

It's a frightening prospect to think that we may one day be taking up arms against our neighbors... But, it's not an unreasonable one. The division between the left and right within our country has grown rapidly since the socialist takeover in November. The new anti-Constitutional Obama administration has begun it's disassembly of our capitalist society by pushing federal control over our Banks, Energy, Education, Health Care and Industrial sectors while (as in other imperialist regimes) they are seeking prosicution against our former leaders. This is an act that is commonly employed as a show of force and power to detour any would be detractors. His supporters are becoming more defensive about their unwavering love for the political "rock star" and are actually becoming more agressive as we saw from the tea parties.

Soon the protests will morph into violent clashes just as in Bangkok and the bloodshed will further polarize the factions. One act will serve as the "Arch Duke Ferdinand" moment that will propell us into all out war. The sides will not fight for land as an army but will fight for Idiology. The flag will be the same but the groups will wear their support on their sleeves and on their car bumpers. There will be much influence from other nations with intent to reap some of the spoils of the giant battle. Some nations, like Isreal and what ever capitalist nations are left, will support the right wing by secretly funneling weapons and technology in through the underground. Others, the more socialist nations, will help by clamping down on the capitalist allies in an attempt to choke off the resistance. While others will simply take advantage of our weakness and attempt to take us over from within. Whether it ends up as a civil war, a revolution or WWIII the net result will not be pretty. (The difference between a civil war and revolution is who wins)

This is one of many sceneriios that may lead to World War Three but the great thing about the future is that we can change it. With enough political power we can stop the socialist train and disable it for good. We can only do it if we...

A. Work together
B. Create a Political Party that adheres to what is morally right, not popular
C. Inform everyone and grow beyond the "Rock Star"
D. Protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all of its enimies.

The future is yours, go get it!