American tinderbox: a new poll

Today’s post is a quick one. Work and health combined are still obliterating my schedule, and look likely to do so for a month, so here I will be direct and fast.

For years I’ve been tracking and forecasting the ways America could descend into civil unrest, breakdown, or open war (some examples). This week saw a new poll which points to more possibilities along that line.

The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics surveyed Americans about their attitudes towards opposing political parties. The results describe a people not only divided along partisan lines, not only seeing opponents as active dangers, but justifying extraordinary responses.

Let me break down what I saw as key findings.

To begin with, look at the numbers of Americans who see their political opposites as extremely dangerous. This doesn’t mean “I think their policies are unpleasant”:

That’s roughly half on each side who sees the other as presenting a “clear and present danger” to American democracy, and who should be censored. Moreover, and beyond that screen shot, was this question: “There’s no real difference between [Republicans and Fascists/Democrats and Socialists]”. Biden voters supported that by 56%/29%, while Trump voters were 76%/54%.