Brilliant diagnosis, and written in a true reporter/observer's tone, which is sorely missing these days.
Two things, though: I agree that this is not actually a "near-miss," historically speaking, as this event will likely determine so much about our immediate and long-term future.
Also, since you didn't take credit for predicting something like this 4 years ago, I'll say so here: In the summer of 2020, as the presidential campaigns were ramping up, you expressed concern that the fever pitch of division in the USA had reached a point that set the stage for something along the lines of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
You proposed that the conditions were set for a "World War I moment" to set everything off -- an event, as you write here, that's clear and dramatic enough to provoke reactions, but just un-clear enough that everyone reacting can interpret it in their own way.
Brilliant diagnosis, and written in a true reporter/observer's tone, which is sorely missing these days.
Two things, though: I agree that this is not actually a "near-miss," historically speaking, as this event will likely determine so much about our immediate and long-term future.
Also, since you didn't take credit for predicting something like this 4 years ago, I'll say so here: In the summer of 2020, as the presidential campaigns were ramping up, you expressed concern that the fever pitch of division in the USA had reached a point that set the stage for something along the lines of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
You proposed that the conditions were set for a "World War I moment" to set everything off -- an event, as you write here, that's clear and dramatic enough to provoke reactions, but just un-clear enough that everyone reacting can interpret it in their own way.
Alas, looks like that moment has arrived.