Divide et impera

Yes, this has been "wisdom" for a long time. Even my old friend Julius (Caesar) knew this adage: divide et impera ("divide and conquer").

This can, of course, apply to just about anything: the family, the neighborhood, the community, the country, or more. It is relevant in just about any field of endeavor, too: in politics, in the military, psychologically or sociologically. But it works only as long as one group can keep other groups pitted against themselves.

It's not all that difficult if you see an opportunity to employ it, and those who realize they can quite often do employ it at every turn. It could be the 1%, the political or military establishment, the educational system, or the so-called, but certainly not-so, free market.

Why does it work? How does it work? It is, as I said, rather simple. You identify the fears of your opponents and you simply turn those fears most suited toward one of the others' fears. For example, if I am ruthless and rich, I can acquire lots of land or resources, and I can thereby create a shortage for others. I favor one group, let's say white workers, and give them jobs enabling them to acquire small pieces of that land or resources. There are other groups, let's say unemployed blacks, who now have nothing but think, rightfully so, that they should be able to have some themselves. All I have to do is convince the whites that those blacks want what little they have, and they will go to great lengths to ensure that the blacks are not going to get it. I who control everything have very little to worry about as long as the blacks and whites are fighting amongst themselves. Divide and conquer; very simple indeed.

There are enough fears to go around, and all I need to do is feed them from time to time. I can tell the blacks that the whites are actually trying to eradicate them like they did the Native Americans, for example, and I can tell the whites that those blacks only want something for nothing and certainly aren't deserving of what they have worked so hard to achieve. In other words, I control the primary flow of information, of opinion, of psychological energy. Yes, it's very, very simple. Why? Because we all have too many fears we don't know how to deal with. We have too many fears that we simply don't understand.

One of the necessary by-products of the Hero's Journey is confronting one's fears, of facing them, of recognizing that in all cases they are illusions which evaporate under the close scrutiny of truth. You come to realize that we human beings have much more in common with one another than what is different, and that what is truly different is a source of enrichment, not a reason for fear. At that point, my dear friends, you free yourself, you become truly free, not just as free as those who are trying to control you would like you to think you are.

This is what Goethe meant when he said, "None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free." So, free yourself. Know thyself.