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The new movie “Civil War” opens in theaters across the United States on Friday, and I think it’s a movie that many people probably want to see.
This prepares us for a controversial rematch between President Joe Biden, an unpopular figure many Americans say they don’t want to lead the country next, and former President Donald Trump. It touches on a troubling subject that many think about. Four years.
The film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a journalist and Nick Offerman as the president of the United States, is set in the not-too-distant future, when the president is an authoritarian and is in his third term. The country is extremely divided, unstable, and at war with itself.
The political leanings of the factions involved are not clear, but the implications are clear, given that this is a proposal from ultra-liberal Hollywood just months before a pivotal presidential election. looks like.
Biden and the left are already running the theme that this is an election about “democracy” and that Trump will pose the greatest threat to our country in history.
But regardless of your political views, this movie is worth considering. What has been written about our polarization and disdain for “the other side” is extremely important.
That seems to be the main point Alex Garland, the writer and director of Civil War, wanted to make.
“I have political positions and I have good friends on the other side of the political divide,” he said during a panel discussion at South by Southwest Film & Television earlier this year. “To be honest, I’m not trying to be cute. What’s so hard about that?” Why stop[the conversation]? Left and right are ideological debates about how to run the country. That’s all. … I try one, and if it doesn’t work, I vote for it and try it again a different way. It’s a process. But we made it a “good thing and a bad thing.” ”
Garland went on to say that this way of confusing politics and morality is “very dangerous.”
He’s right. This idea means that if you disagree with someone, not only do you think that person’s ideas are bad, but you also think that they themselves are bad.
Americans are worried
These divisions have led people to question the future of our system of government. In a March Grinnell College national poll, 25% of respondents said they believed “American democracy… will come to an end” within their lifetime.
This seems like a surprisingly high number.
But it’s similar to other studies in recent years. More than 40% of Americans believe a civil war in the United States is likely or somewhat likely to occur in the next 10 years, according to a 2022 poll from YouGov and The Economist. For self-identified strong Republicans, this number rises to 54%.
Almost one in four Americans supports their state’s secession from the United States, with residents of Alaska, California, and Texas the most open to the idea.
Where will all this division and uncertainty about our country’s future lead?
“Although there is no immediate threat of military clashes on the battlefield, the rise in overblown insurrectionist sentiment is compounded by the growing recognition that the United States is now the most divided along ideological and political lines since the 1850s.” “It’s a product of being there,” Bruce Stokes said. As an Associate Fellow at Chatham House recently wrote:
“An increasingly Balkanized United States is likely to become more inward-looking and preoccupied with internal divisions over issues of immigration, race, inequality, and gender and gender identity.”
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Do they only care that their side wins?
Another worrying trend is that Americans believe that only their candidates can hold the torch for democracy (a shorthand term for constitutional republic, but the most commonly used). It seems that he is thinking that.
A poll from Canada’s Angus Reid Institute this year found that majorities of both Trump and Biden voters were concerned about the country’s democracy if the other party won. And no matter who wins, only 32% of voters say they “fully accept” the outcome of the 2024 election.
Both Republicans and Democrats say they fear a slide toward authoritarianism, but only if it happens to their own party. it’s not in charge.
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A recent Associated Press headline read, “Americans think the president’s power should be checked — unless their side wins, AP-NORC poll finds.”
Overall, only about 2 in 10 Americans say it would be a “good thing” for the next president to unilaterally change policy, the poll found. However, the situation changes dramatically when political parties are taken into account. Nearly 60% of Republicans support such executive powers if Trump is elected. Forty percent of Democrats say they would do the same if Biden wins a second term.
And both Biden and Trump have shown themselves all too comfortable assuming executive roles to suit their convenience.
Just because we agree with the policies of those in power, we cannot allow power to go unchecked. Our system of checks and balances, enshrined in the Constitution, is intended to maintain limits on all branches of government.
Deep mistrust of the other person and overconfidence in oneself are an explosive combination.
Perhaps the movie “Civil War” is up to something.
Ingrid Jack is a columnist for USA TODAY. Contact us at ijacques@usatoday.com or at X (formerly Twitter). @Ingrid_Jacques
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