History YMMV / ItCouldHappenHere

* AuthorTract:

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: One of the main scenarios outlined for kicking off the Second Civil War was the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump. It was theorized this would cause a number of RightWingMilitiaFanatic groups to take up arms against the state in defense of the President against the "deep state". A number of audio clips are played from such groups saying that even the act of impeachment would unleash anarchy and violence from their followers.[[note]]For those outside the United States, this is like saying "I will kill people if that person is charged with a crime, even if he's not convicted."[[/note]] Cut to late 2019/early 2020, the President was impeached and... nothing happened. No violence, no murder, no bloody insurgencies.
** Granted, he was only impeached, and it never went all the way through. Had the Senate upheld it...we might have had a different story. And those groups ''still'' ended up attacking the US Capitol in an attempt to cancel or delay Biden being officially elected President when Trump lost.

** Granted, he was only impeached, and it never went all the way through. Had the Senate upheld it...we might have had a different story. And those groups still ended up attacking the US Capitol in an attempt to cancel or delay Biden being officially elected President when Trump lost.

** Evan's anarchist leanings are also quite obvious, with the US government’s response to the crisis seeming to consist entirely of stomping on civil rights and committing various atrocities up to and including bombing American cities to oblivion. Events like these could happen, yet he also ignores the “carrot” side of state power such as the extensive emergency management protocols (establishing green zones, humanitarian aid camps, etc.) that FEMA, the National Guard and state governments have in place in the event of a nationwide crisis.

** Evan's anarchist leanings are also quite obvious, with the US government’s response to the crisis seeming to consist entirely of stomping on civil rights and committing various atrocities up to and including bombing American cities to oblivion. Events like these could certainly happen, yet he also ignores the “carrot” side of state power such as the extensive emergency management protocols (establishing green zones, humanitarian aid camps, etc.) that FEMA, the National Guard and state governments have in place in the event of a nationwide crisis.

** Numerous listeners have noted that while a large chunk of the podcast's runtime is devoted to covering various far-right groups and their ideologies in detail, far-''left'' groups [[OutofFocus barely get a passing mention]], to the point where none besides (arguably) Antifa are even named. This bias is particularly apparent when Evans states the second episode will cover far-left groups at the end of the first... only to turn around and devote the second episode to further cover rural far-right militias.

*** He also states many US urban areas will likely remain peaceful when the government retreats, citing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This ignores the fact that Katrina was a natural disaster hitting a single city in an otherwise peaceful and stable nation, rather than a nationwide collapse in the midst of the smartphone/social media era where (mis)information and panic can rapidly spread across continents. His Katrina example also flies in the face of more recent and applicable events such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932022_United_States_racial_unrest US's 2020-present civil unrest]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring Arab Spring]] and nearly every other armed revolution and civil war within at least the past hundred years, where cities became hotbeds of sectarian violence.

** Granted, he was only impeached, and it never went all the way through. Had the Senate upheld it...we might have had a different story.

* CriticalResearchFailure
** The final episode’s second-person narrative vignette describes a balkanized and climate change-stricken future US where a Pacific Northwest rump state is managing to sustain itself fairly well, while the South and Midwest are experiencing mass famine and starvation. This… doesn’t make any sense. [[https://www.drought.gov/ Drought patterns]] in the US overlaid with its most [[https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/map-croplands-united-states arable farmland]] reveal the exact opposite scenario would occur, with just about everywhere west of the Rockies ''already'' on the path to become a drought and wildfire-stricken inferno, while the Midwest/Great Lakes region in particular is set to remain a critical North American breadbasket and would likely become the new centre of civilization in a post-collapse USA.
*** Considering the narration mentions the South and Midwest are controlled by far-right rump states and religious fanatics and that the suffering of these regions' citizens can be seen as “karmic justice", this could also be another instance of Author Tract crossed with CreatorProvincialism (Evans is based in Portland, OR).
** Apart from a brief mention of the US’s fragile infrastructure in the first episode and the (incorrect) postwar scenario listed above, the podcast largely ignores the downright ''catastrophic'' supply chain disruption, collapse and re-consolidation that would inevitably occur during a nationwide civil war – the number one concern for the average American caught in the crossfire. Rebel-held cities are described as under siege from the US military and rural militias, for example, yet no mention is made of where said rebels are getting their food/potable water/meds/electricity/fuel/etc., practically to the point of ApocalypticLogistics. Evans, a veteran war correspondent, should really understand the overwhelming importance of supply lines in a war scenario.
** The podcast also makes zero mention of reactions or interventions/interference from foreign powers, as if the US government wouldn’t call for help or if China, Russia and the rest of NATO would just idly stand by and watch as the world’s largest economy, most powerful and far-reaching military and holder of the global reserve currency tears itself apart. The only other country actively involved is Canada (they are said to supply weapons in one segment), and this Canadian Troper can emphasize there’s almost zero chance Canada in its current state could survive the collapse of the US, let alone halt or regulate millions of American refugees from flooding north as the podcast claims.

** The podcast also makes zero mention of reactions or interventions/interference from foreign powers, as if the US government wouldn’t call for help or if China, Russia and the rest of NATO would just idly stand by and watch as the world’s largest economy, most powerful and far-reaching military and holder of the global reserve currency tears itself apart. The only other country actively involved is Canada (they are said to supply weapons in one segment), and this Canadian Troper can emphasize there’s almost zero chance Canada in its current state could survive the collapse of the US, let alone halt or regulate millions of American refugees from flooding north as the podcast claims.

** The podcast also makes zero mention of reactions or interventions/interference from foreign powers, as if the US government wouldn’t call for help or if China, Russia and the rest of NATO would just idly stand by and watch as the world’s largest economy, most powerful and far-reaching military and holder of the global reserve currency tears itself apart. The only other country mentioned is Canada, and this Canadian Troper can emphasize there’s almost zero chance Canada in its current state could survive the collapse of the US, let alone halt or regulate millions of American refugees from flooding north as the podcast claims.

*** Considering the narration mentions the South and Midwest are controlled by far-right rump states and religious fanatics and that the citizens of these regions’ suffering can be seen as “karmic justice", this could also be another instance of Author Tract crossed with CreatorProvincialism (Evans is based in Portland, OR).
** Apart from a brief mention of the US’s fragile infrastructure in the first episode and the (incorrect) postwar scenario listed above, the podcast largely ignores the downright ''catastrophic'' supply chain disruption, collapse and re-consolidation that would inevitably occur during a nationwide civil war – the number one concern for the average American caught in the crossfire. Rebel-held cities are described as under siege from the US military and rural militias, for example, yet no mention is made of where said rebels are getting their food/potable water/meds/electricity/fuel/etc., to the point of EasyLogistics. Evans, an experienced war correspondent, should really understand the overwhelming importance of supply lines in a war scenario.

** Evan's anarchist leanings are also quite obvious, with the US government’s response to the crisis seeming to consist entirely of cracking down on civil rights and committing various atrocities, up to and including bombing American cities to oblivion. Events like these could certainly happen, yet he also ignores the “carrot” side of state power such as the extensive emergency management protocols (establishing green zones, humanitarian aid camps, etc.) that FEMA, the National Guard and state governments have in place in the event of a nationwide crisis.

** Numerous listeners have noted that, while a large chunk of the podcast's runtime is devoted to covering various far-right groups and their ideologies in detail, far-''left'' groups [[OutofFocus barely get a passing mention]], to the point where none besides (arguably) Antifa are even named. This bias is particularly apparent when Evans states the second episode will cover far-left groups at the end of the first... only to turn around and devote the second episode to further cover rural far-right militias.

*** Considering the narration mentions the South and Midwest are controlled by far-right rump states and religious fanatics and that the citizens of these regions’ suffering can be seen as “karmic justice", this could be another instance of Author Tract crossed with CreatorProvincialism (Evans is based in Portland, OR).

*** Considering the narration mentions the South and Midwest are controlled by far-right rump states and religious fanatics and the citizens of these regions’ suffering can be seen as “karmic justice", this could be another instance of Author Tract crossed with CreatorProvincialism (Evans is based in Portland, OR).

** The final episode’s second-person narrative vignette describes a balkanized and climate change-stricken future US where a Pacific Northwest rump state is managing to sustain itself fairly well, while the South and Midwest are experiencing mass famine and starvation. This… doesn’t make any sense. [[https://www.drought.gov/ Drought patterns]] in the US overlaid with its most [[https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/map-croplands-united-states arable farmland]] reveal the exact opposite scenario would occur, with just about everywhere west of the Rockies ''already'' on the path to become a drought and wildfire-stricken wasteland, while the Midwest/Great Lakes region in particular is set to remain a critical North American breadbasket and would likely become the new centre of civilization in a post-collapse US.
*** Considering the narration mentions the South and Midwest are controlled by far-right rump states and religious fanatics and that these regions’ suffering can be seen as “karmic justice”, this could be another instance of Author Tract crossed with CreatorProvincialism (Evans is based in Portland, OR).

** Evan's anarchist leanings are also quite obvious, with the US government’s response to the crisis seeming to consist entirely of cracking down on civil rights and committing various atrocities, up to and including bombing cities to oblivion. Events like these could certainly happen, yet he also ignores the “carrot” side of state power such as the extensive emergency management protocols (establishing green zones, humanitarian aid camps, etc.) that FEMA, the National Guard and state governments have in place in the event of a nationwide crisis.

** Apart from a brief mention of the US’s fragile infrastructure in the first episode and the (incorrect) postwar scenario listed above, the podcast largely ignores the downright ''catastrophic'' supply chain disruption, collapse and re-consolidation that would inevitably occur during a nationwide civil war – the number one concern for the average American caught in the crossfire. Rebel-held cities are described as under siege from the US military and rural militias, for example, yet no mention is made of where said rebels are getting their food/potable water/meds/electricity/fuel/etc., almost to the point of ApocalypticLogistics. Evans, an experienced war correspondent, should really understand the overwhelming importance of supply lines in a war scenario.

** Numerous listeners have noted that, while a large chunk of the podcast's runtime is devoted to covering various far-right groups and their ideologies in detail, far-''left'' groups [[OutofFocus barely get a passing mention]], to the point where none besides (arguably) Antifa are even named. This bias is particularly egregious when Evans states the second episode will cover far-left groups at the end of the first... only to turn around and devote the second episode to further cover rural far-right militias.

** The final episode’s second-person narrative vignette describes a balkanized and climate change-stricken future US where a Pacific Northwest rump state is managing to sustain itself fairly well, while the South and Midwest are experiencing mass famine and starvation. This… doesn’t make any sense. [[https://www.drought.gov/ Drought patterns]] in the US overlaid with its most [[https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/map-croplands-united-states arable farmland]] reveal the exact opposite scenario would occur, with just about everywhere west of the Rockies ''already'' on the path to become a drought and wildfire-stricken wasteland, while the Midwest/Great Lakes region in particular is set to remain a critical North American breadbasket and would likely become the new centre of civilization in a post-collapse USA.