by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I have often said that if The End comes, I’ll either be the first person to die or the person who brings back civilization. I find myself thinking a lot about this as I grow more and more alarmed about America’s fate over the next few years. I find myself wondering if I might find out if my silly prediction is going to turn out to be a lot closer to the truth than I might otherwise realize.
In either end of the spectrum — autocracy or civil war — I might very well find my life upended in a rather dramatic fashion. If we become an autocracy, then I’m going to inevitably run afoul of the autocrat. If we have a civil war, then I’m probably going to wiggle my way into some sort of leadership position simply because I refuse to stand by in such a crisis.
Whenever my start to daydream about being some sort of Second American Civil War leader, I think about how U.S. Grant was a drunk in the middle of nowhere for most of the 1850s before the First American Civil War changed his life forever. I’m definitely not comparing myself to Grant, but I do know my strengths and an America thrown into chaos because of a 2ACW is something I know that I could definitely potentially thrive in.
Or, of course, I would be one of the first people murdered for political reasons when it first began — not a lot of people like me. (Wink.)
I don’t seriously believe I could become any sort of leader as a result of a 2ACW, but it is something interesting to think about. Or, put another way, it’s something to make myself feel better when I realize how fucking dark the future of the United States is going to be, one way or another.
