what I hope we don't wind up with is a Northern Ireland situation of endless protracted sectarian violence
although again, it's hard to see it exactly - for all the polarization, there's no single organizing issue like religion there
right and left are not fixed tribal positions in the same way
@WashYourHands could comment here I'm sure
Left and right are tribal though, even if not currently fixed. However, in the face of escalating violence, those positions could become more entrenched, more fixed. What does the landscape the day after the election look like to folks here? It’ll get worse before it gets better, as I see it.
The north of Ireland is not exactly the same but there are broad comparisons - civil rights issues and militant autocracies in positions of power, police collusion with militia groups which undermines so much good that can be achieved at a community level. The US is still a powder keg - number of overall Covid deaths, the prevalence of weapons in pvt ownership, lack of dialogue, growing numbers of fringe loons organising militarily and......the election.
Can’t recall a general election here where peace in the north rested on such a result? Blair’s election win maybe - no Blair, no GFA, even if he is/was a minion of Satan on other fronts. The US isn’t experiencing a bombing campaign, but it is haemorrhaging lives, opportunities, squandering talent and sustains/upholds huge discrepancies in equitable and legal parameters for different class and race groups. Not sustainable peacefully.
By no means a complete overview and there’s plenty missing, but until all sides can sit down together with common interests in mind (which seems impossible until those interests are recognised), without screaming and histrionics, it can only get worse and I say that as a foreigner who was treated especially well as a guest in your nation. A major reset is needed but that would put too many vested interests at risk. Result? Watered down compromises, like woke capitalism.