A civil war can break out anywhere on the globe if people are upset enough. This time it’s the Netherlands. You can only lock down a people “for their health and safety” for so long. People still need to get out to do things. At least 20 cities and towns across the country were affected in rioting that’s gone on for three nights. It’s been the worst lockdown since World War II.
Civil war can affect state officials
That just hasn’t happened yet. In fact, leaders mocked it. The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted out, “This has nothing to do with protesting or fighting for freedom. It is criminal violence and we will treat it as such”. It was “unacceptable”.
Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra scoffed we’re “not going to capitulate to a few idiots”. Almost 200 people were arrested and 10 cops were injured.
Civil war destroys things
Although any war will do that. War is about killing people and breaking things to bring a leadership to its knees. But leadership didn’t really seem to be threatened yet.
John Jorritsma is the mayor of one of the hardest hit towns, Eindhoven. He told the local news station NOS, “They talk about freedom and dictatorship, but in the meantime they are demolishing the shops and the station here, setting fire to cars and police officers at the station. We are on our way to civil war.”
There’s nothing civil about war
But then when people are just trying to go about their daily business being civil and they can’t, they’ll eventually rise up. The curfew is on from 9 pm to 4:30 am. Bars and restaurants haven’t been open since October, schools and stores have been closed since December.
COVID infections have been dropping but this was implemented after a new more contagious strain was discovered in the UK.
Civil war can go global
It’s not just the Dutch. In Isreal, religious schools were supposed to remain closed but they’ve been opened in defiance. Denmark saw rocks and fireworks thrown at police with people chanting, “We have had enough”.
Over 1,000 Spanish demonstrators gathered in Madrid saying they “just want to breathe” and “COVID 1984”. It’s a natural condition of human beings to want to be free. That can mean war if a country’s leaders refuse.
