A leading billionaire investor is envisioning a possible grim future for the United States, with at least a one-in-three chance of a new "civil war" in America created by the current political climate.
"We are now on the brink," due to an extremely "turbulent" time in history, Ray Dalio, founder of billionaire investors' Bridgewater Associates, told the Financial Times.
He believes there's as much as a 40% chance of a second civil war in the nation.
Recent studies reveal an increasing political polarization in the nation. A Pew Research poll found that only 32% of Americans have a roughly equal number of conservative and liberal positions, a decrease from 49%in 2004, the Independent noted.
Social media has facilitated connections among like-minded extremists, enabling them to support each other more than ever and emboldening individuals to take radical actions, such as organizing protests and storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, observers have noted.
Dalio clarified that the "civil war" he envisions is not one where people necessarily "grab guns and start shooting" — though the storming of the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters after he lost the presidential election could presage wider-scale violence.
Dalio predicted the growing "war" will create a nation where people no longer find any middle ground in politics, and may simply begin by breaking laws they don't support.
"People move to different states that are more aligned with what they want, and they don't follow the decisions of federal authorities of the opposite political persuasion," he said.
The upcoming 2024 election will be a test of democracy, he warned.
"Will there be an acceptance of the rules and an ability to work well under those rules?" he wonderd.
"Trump will follow more rightist, nationalistic, isolationist, protectionist, non-regulatory policies - and more aggressive policies to fight enemies internally and externally, including political enemies."
Biden, and "even more so the Democratic Party without Biden, will be more the opposite, though they, too, will play political hardball," said Dalio.
