From the eternal sea he rises, creating armies on either shore, turning man against his brother, until man exists no more.
- The Omen
When the cove and the mussel fight, it is the fisherman who benefits.
- Old Chinese Proverb
You can always hire one half of the poor to kill the other half.
-Boss Tweed
Divide and Conquer. It's the oldest trick in the book.
If you have a formidable enemy, one that you can not overcome in a fair fight, you must develop and use some form of leverage to defeat them. Division is a form of leverage. And, division is probably the most effective way to achieve victory.
The math is simple. Regardless of the numbers against you, all you have to do is convince half of them that the other half is trying to rob them of something valuable, or that they're trying to hurt or kill them. Once they become convinced of the lie, you can sit back and watch the show. This is true whether you are talking about two people or 2 billion. The end result is the same.
In looking at modern politics in America, I can't help but feel that this is being played out on the American people. There are so many ways to divide us; Republican vs. Democrat. White vs. Black. Man vs. Woman. Rich vs. Poor. North vs. South. Gay vs. Straight. Religious vs. Atheist. Religion vs. Religion. Pro-choice vs. Pro-Life. Labor vs. Management. Liberal vs. Conservative. Citizen vs. Immigrant. Child vs. Adult. Minority vs. Majority.
The list seems endless.
With all this division going on, how do we ever expect to get anything done?
Think of all the time and energy we use fighting amongst ourselves. What else could we be doing with all that time and energy? When we really look at it, most of our efforts and resources go towards the endless wars against ourselves. Indeed, if this diary gets any attention at all, there are sure to be comment wars debating exactly how we're being divided.
In the meantime, who benefits? Certainly not the good people of the United States. And what exactly is the benefit? Is it really money? I don't think so.
It is interesting to note just how much money has been printed vs. how much has been officially destroyed. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to know that number anymore. That's something the last administration decided was 'too much information' for the public to have. Surely, there must be at least as much in circulation as we owe, right? Otherwise, how could we ever pay it back? Maybe that's the point. You know, there's a word for that kind of system and it rhymes with bravery, although it means something else entirely.
Actually, the truth is that best estimates say only about 8% of our debt exists in actual paper money and coin. The rest exists on uncountable balance sheets spanning the globe. If we actually printed the amount of money we owed, the economy would instantly collapse in on itself. Why? Because suddenly there would be so many paper dollars available that they would become their true value, which is almost worthless. The oft heard quote of .04 cents on the dollar was pre-Bush. Now, estimates are closer to .02 cents on the dollar. If all our debt was printed in paper and coin, everyone would suddenly become a multi-millionaire. Sounds pretty good until you go to the grocery store and see a gallon of milk selling for $89,000 ...on sale.
Paper money is like religion; without faith it is essentially worthless. So is gold and silver, for that matter (except for industrial purposes - which are few). It is only in our own flawed belief systems that we can conceive a printed piece of paper measuring 2" by 6" could be really worth anything. Yet, we live with this reality everyday. We work hard for that paper. We horde that paper. We'll lie, cheat and steal for that paper. Why? Because we have faith that someday it will actually be worth something.
In the end, there is only one physical thing that holds any real value or worth that can be measured. That thing is land. Specifically, land that can be built upon and farmed. Ultimately, that's what humans really need to survive. Food and shelter. Indeed, you never see wars fought over who gets to control a vast area of water. It's always about land.
The reason I mention this is because the puppeteers whom create all this havoc for the purpose of dividing us must have something of value they want from us, otherwise why would they bother? That something has to be more than our money, because it won't be worth much when America falls (besides, they already have most of our money). That something has to be more than our gold and silver too.
So, if it's not our money and it's not our gold and silver, then it must be our land. Whomever controls the land controls the people. It's like controlling air, if such a thing were possible.
All of us know that America has accumulated so much debt that there is no possibility of ever paying it off. The people know it and the politicians know it. The rest of the world knows it too. But no one likes to talk about it. We keep hearing about leaving our children and grandchildren with mountains of debt, yet deep down we know this isn't how things will unfold. Our kids and grandkids aren't going to be able to pay this debt off anymore than we are able to.
I dare say, this is no accident. When America finally reaches a point in which it can no longer borrow money and the whole economic system comes crashing down, we will lose something very, very important to us. We will lose the governing body that protects a god-dammed piece of paper called the U.S. Constitution. The very heart of our country. The thing that tells us more than anything else that our land is really ours.
But here's the thing. If the federal government were to collapse and we lost our Constitution, what would happen? The answer is ...it depends. It depends upon whether or not we the people can join together to rebuild a new nation that is modeled after the old one and updated for modern times OR we will be handed a system of government that we will be forced to accept. Why forced? Because we'll be so fractured and divided that none of us will have sufficient strength to stop it from happening.
So you see, it is not our Constitution that protects us as much as it is our being united with each other. If we just simply stand together on our core principles, Constitutions and governments can come and go without destroying everything we hold dear.
So, the next time you feel like calling people on the right names and making fun of their ideologies, try to remember that there probably will come a day when you need those people standing next to you in a show of unity and strength to save our country.
Also, take heart in understanding that if you debate with calm, solid reasoning, there is a good chance you'll make progress. If you can plant a seed of truth in someone's mind, it just might grow. I can tell you from experience that I have switched my opinion on something after getting into a debate. But it wasn't instantaneous. I needed time to think it through and perform my research. But if someone insults me and calls me names in a debate, all I can feel is the anger and I refuse to try and see their point of view.
So, the moral of this story is to take a step back and try to see when you're being baited into a fight. For example, I don't think Glen Beck accurately represents most people on the right. But it does cause problems if Fox can make us believe that the right really does agree with Glen Beck. They're probably told that we agree with everything Jesse Jackson says too.
You see, that's how we're played against each other. And, if successful, it will ultimately mean the end of America. In the end, we've only got each other.
Just something to think about.