A growing distrust of political institutions in the United States indicates that the country may be on the verge of a new internal conflict, writes the British newspaper The Guardian.
According to for the newspaperWarnings of an impending American civil war were nonsense, said Dr. Garen Wentmutt, founder of the California Gun Violence Research Center, but a July poll from the center “overwhelmed him.” It turns out that half of Americans expect a civil war in the next few years, and one in five US residents believe that political violence is justified under certain circumstances.
In addition, Wintmut said that up to 40% of Americans believe that having a strong leader for the country is more important than the survival of democracy.
According to the researcher, the escalation of violent threats is exacerbated by the growth in arms sales: “What happens when you take a community that is more and more afraid for its future, more and more polarized, more and more angry with itself, and throws away a bunch of weapons? » – he said.
For her part, civil unrest specialist Rachel Kleinfeld said that the political system in the United States does not guarantee that the country will not experience violent conflict, and stressed: “If our institutions weaken, history may turn out differently.” Kleinfeld noted that the results of the aforementioned survey were “disturbing”.
“You see three to five million Americans who are willing to harm other Americans because of their political beliefs, it shows that the people of the United States are very disillusioned with our democracy and don’t think it works,” she added. . However, she added that she was not optimistic about this.
Last week, Fox News, citing a survey, reported that three-quarters of Americans are dissatisfied with the situation in the country. This number has grown from 67% in May and from 53% in April last year.
Source: RIA Novosti