Civil Wars don’t start with gunfire

Civil wars don’t start with gunfire.
They start with moral separation.

When one side believes the other is evil — not wrong, not misguided, but illegitimate — the war has already begun in the mind.

The Left increasingly sees the Right as a threat to democracy itself.
The Right… pic.twitter.com/L1Bcxwu3md

— Papageorgio (@gecffmn) January 25, 2026

Civil wars don’t start with gunfire.
They start with moral separation.

When one side believes the other is evil — not wrong, not misguided, but illegitimate — the war has already begun in the mind.

The Left increasingly sees the Right as a threat to democracy itself.
The Right increasingly sees the Left as a threat to the nation’s survival.

That’s the pretext phase.

Institutions stop being trusted.
Elections stop being believed.
Law enforcement is seen as political.
Justice becomes selective.
Speech becomes dangerous.

At that point, it’s no longer Left vs Right —
it’s Us vs Them, and history says that’s the line every civil conflict crosses right before things break.

Civil wars aren’t announced.
They’re justified.

Justified as “safety.”
Justified as “defense.”
Justified as “saving the country.”

And by the time people realize what’s happening, the argument is no longer about policy —
it’s about power.

America isn’t there yet.
But pretending we’re not walking toward the edge is how nations fall off cliffs.

History doesn’t repeat itself.
It watches to see if you were paying attention.