It's not 'anger' alone which acts as the primary precursor to political violence. It is confused, misinformed and manipulated anger; it is anger potentially driven by cognitive dissonance. In fact, there have been interesting theories on how cognitive dissonance in the 19th century American South helped push their headlong dive into the Civil War after they left themselves what they thought was no other way out.
American now has has 'replacement theory' in its place. And, again, a very similar choir to those earlier are being told there is no way out but violence. Unique to the 19th century, however, we have broadcast TV and social media pushing hard Right conspiracy theories, disinformation, revisionism, nonstop lies, deep incitement and self absorbed propaganda 24 hours a day.
It is disoriented anger led by a political faction - now the combined GOP, hard Right and Evangelicals - operating only for their own purpose and power. This is not at all unlike the wealthy owners of human slaves before and during the Civil War. Back then, they were protecting their perceived neo-Victorian lifestyle and going to church regularly while owning and abusing humans kept as slaves. Southern aristocracy needed these human slaves....at least, desperately convinced themselves they needed them...to maintain what were economically, structurally and personally failed social systems and lifestyles.
In the American South of the 19th century, the Southern ‘Victorian’ aristocracy had to convince the so many Southern poor most of whom were not slave owners to fight and die for them. Now, we have the American conservative and 'theocratic' aristocracies of the South and the North combined convincing the much less affluent numbers of white nationalists/supremacist; those desperately racist and anti-Semitic who've been waiting for an opening; those who work hard every day but still don't see a future whose fault it is and how they need to fight back to regain what they never had to start.
The parallels are strong and deeply alarming. Their followers have already started killing and dying for the modern ‘Conservative Aristocracy.’ Their followers have already compromised their own lives, have and are going to jail for this modern Conservative Aristocracy.
I don't expect a nation wide 19th century style Civil War. But I do anticipate more expanded political violence and death pushed by the GOP and, without precedent, a former President who has refused to respect even the most basic tenets of America’s political history and, of most importance, our exceptional secular Constitution which is now under tremendous threat..
THIS is the anger fermenting in America which likely still has a way to go before peaking and being broken by a finally fed up nation. Tragically, America will wait until something 'big,' something so horrific occurs to which people will truly say 'ENOUGH.' An 82 year old man, husband to the third in line to the Presidency, wasn't close to enough.
In America, accountability has always been key. If such accountability doesn't happen now, the primary instigators and conspirators will only up the ante still more