Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

They can nuke you from orbit with the click of a button, nothing you can acquire legal or otherwise can prevent that if they so wish.


I know you're just willfully dumb, but other people reading might think you actually have a point.

No army in the world including the US could stop a civilian uprising of even a million people who have just rifles and the will to fight. They don't need nukes, tanks, or airplanes. If a large enough percentage of people, say 2% of the population, decided to fight a civil war, the US army/gov would fall in a few months if the rebels knew what they were doing.

It would be a guerilla war. And all of the critical infrastructure in the US could be destroyed in a month. No gas. No electricity. Smaller uprisings would be easily squashed.

Now, would this ever happen? Unlikely. Americans can barely get their fat asses out of bed much less do military operations for weeks at a time. Things would have to get incredibly bad and a leader would have to organize it. But it is possible.


My problem with this thought is that a civil war = government forces vs cilivilan militias.

I imagine it more a weakened government (but still with a functioning military) supported by civilian militias backing the government, versus various large and small insurgencies possibly with foreign backing.


I take it they'll use a nuke to get this shooter then?

No?

They'll use it on the next one then?

No?

The US practially isn't going to use nukes on the US. Its practically not going to use nukes on pretty much anyone.


I mean, don't color me surprised if a civilian uses a drone to commit an act of violence in the future. We're on the precipice of autonomous drone assassinations.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: