[admissionsguy]

1. Election year, so massive BLM or similar riots in the USA.

2. The economic gap between Western/Northern European countries and the USA is increasingly acknowledged. It becomes evident that the two regions are on divergent paths. The EU promises more regulation.

3. Surveillance and control throughout society continues to increase thanks to technology. Employers over employees, states over citizens.

[muzani]

My most pessimistic outlook is another 9/11 incident close to elections. It's the perfect moment - Americans are pissed with what's happening in the Middle East. They're pissed about their own quality of life and poverty. They're pissed about the poor handling of COVID and lockdowns. America's enemies may use it to provoke American policy to be more isolationist, much like it was pre-Pearl Harbor, because doubling down on the war on terror sounds like a bad idea.

It's also quite common for terrorists/rebels/etc to make moves close to elections because they expect it to be a time when govs are too tied down with campaigning to act decisively.

[AnimalMuppet]

Re 1: Could be BLM. Could be MAGA. Could be both, in different places. Could even be an armed clash between them.

Re 2: I don't know about "acknowledged". I might go with "obvious", but "acknowledged" requires people admitting it. I think it's going to be a while before that happens.