Divide and Conquer- The Downfall of Western Civilization

I’ve been told Western Civilization is about to come apart—Divide and Conquer they said. Go to YouTube to watch the video or read on and let me explain:

Sitting there in the waiting room, I don’t know how we got into the discussion. Maybe just his comment about the lunacy of our politicians. He said, “Congresspeople call each other names that used to get kids in school sent to the Principal’s Office.” Then this guy said something totally absurd.

“Western civilization is doomed,” he said. “It’s on its way to total collapse. We are being divided more than ever, and are almost ripe for conquering!”

I’m Phillip J Stone, and you need to hear this story. For more insights go to https://phillipjstone.com

So, what in the world was this guy getting at? I had no clue, but, man, I wanted to find out what the hell he was talking about. I calmly asked, “Really?”

Before he could respond, we heard the intercom crackle. “John Sloan to the desk, please.”

He stood up, looked at me, and said, “I’m John Sloan. Sorry. Gotta go.” Moments later he was back, shaking his head. “They got my insurance number wrong and were gonna charge me full price!”

“I love our healthcare system too!” I grinned. “Get it fixed?” I asked. He nodded. So, I said, “Tell me about this collapse.”

Divided We Fall

John looked at me with fear in his eyes. “You’ve heard the phrase, ‘Divide and conquer?’”

I said, “From Generals in war, right?”

John said, “Right. Generals like Julius Cesar, around the time of the birth of Christ, and the Greek storyteller Aesop, who lived during the 6th century B.C. In 1799, trying to unify the country, Patrick Henry said, ‘United we stand, divided we fall.’ Divide and conquer—it’s a concept that’s been around forever. Now, can you think of a time when our country was more divided than it is today? And what about tomorrow? Do you figure we will be less divided, or more divided?”

I didn’t like what I was hearing and I started to get combative. “What about The Civil War? North against the South!”

He laughed and said, “We were so divided it led to war. It’s way worse now! It’s global. It’s not just the North against the South. It’s country against country. It’s one way of life against another. It’s friend against family member. Progressive versus Conservative. Young versus old. Black versus white. We are pushed into taking sides on everything. Who benefits from all this controversy and fighting?”

Our Media Drives Conflict

I sat there, stunned as John went on. “The media!” he continued. “They use controversy and conflict along with natural curiosity to get viewers, and viewers mean advertising dollars. Seems like all media formats lean to the left, or to the right, yet they proudly say they are unbiased. Lies! And people listen and feel a dopamine rush when the on-air personality agrees with them. So they lock in that information source and become more and more entrenched in one side, radicalized, you might say.”

I wanted to sound informed, so I said, “Okay John. You have a good point about the media benefitting from conflict—even thriving because of it, but how does that lead to your ‘divide and conquer’ scenario? I don’t get it!”

John replied, “First, who wants the USA to fail? China!” he began.

I jumped in. “They won’t hurt us. They need our markets to sell to.”

“Exactly!” John grinned. “But they don’t want us for anything other than being their consumers. They want control. Look at what they do with intellectual property. They steal it. How about territory? They are building islands and creating military bases! They are racing to control rare earth minerals. They want control of the world, and we are in the way. The moon and space—they want it all. But they are incredibly patient. They don’t require immediate gratification like the Russians. They are in it for the long haul. Watch them. They want to own our future!”

John had some interesting ideas. I said, “I remembered the second-world-war movie, Pearl Harbor, when Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle was quoted as saying, ‘Victory belongs to those who believe in it the most, and believe in it the longest.’ I guess China thinks they can outlast us!” I took out my phone and started taking notes so I could put this on video.

“You’re getting it,” John remarked. “And what about Russia? They are crazed to gain territory, and they don’t care what it costs. They break promises as fast as they make them. Then there are countries who push violence—countries like good old Iran. You can hear them yelling, ‘Death to America!’ What about the Muslim Brotherhood? They have huge numbers living right here in the United States! There is a world of Jihad championing Sharia Law just under the radar right here in America. We’ve got professional agitators with their print-shop protest signs. We’ve got terrorists.  We’ve got cartels and drugs. Human trafficking. We’ve got lunatics who have been radicalized by the media’s bias, and the company they keep. I could go on and on!”

I shivered and said, “Scary!”

We Give a Pass and Forgive Our Own Liars

John shook his head as he said, “People on the right lie about something and the people on the left jump on it, trying to get their soundbite to hit the airwaves. The left does it too. Then the media looks for consumer interest. When people want to know more, the media gives it to them, slanted to fit their agenda. The other side fights back. I don’t want to know which side you are on,” he told me. “And I don’t need to know, but I’ll bet you listen to your side and hear a little lie slip out, and you forgive it. You let their lie slide because it’s someone on your team—your side, right?”

I thought of the times somebody I voted for said something that made me cringe and I just let it go. I said, “Never considered that, but you’re right. My team gets a pass; their team gets excoriated.”

He nodded. “They lie freely, both sides, knowing people on their side will forgive the lie, so lies flow like an unclogged toilet.” John sat shaking his head. “Look at Congress. Those people get elected, and many have nothing. A few years later they become wealthy, owning multiple homes, flying in private jets, really living the life—all based on money. Greed at work. Talk about divisive. They have better health care, lifelong pensions, use their access to insider information, and many get wealthy. And what about our educators? How did we get to the point where teachers slant their lessons to champion just one side?” John continued. “You familiar with Lenin?”

“Sure!” I said. “John Lennon and Yoko. Great songs. ‘All You Need is Love.’”

“No, Vladimir Lenin, the first head of government of Soviet Russia. His goal was to bury Western Civilization. He is quoted saying, ‘Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.’ In another he said, ‘Destroy the family, you destroy the country.’ Many of his successors still embrace his sick logic. They play on our greed, and our feeling of invincibility.”

The Lessons of History

I responded, saying, “History has so much to tell us. If we don’t pay attention, we are destined to repeat the same mistakes again and again. I hated history classes in school. It was just memorization—lots of facts without any reasons for why things happened. I learned the facts to pass the tests and quickly forgot everything.”

Then John said, “Speaking of history lessons, listen to this! On September eleventh, two thousand one, terrorists made a huge blunder. Instead of dividing Americans, they united us. It was the United States as one against terror. They must have missed a huge lesson from history: Do not attack our homeland!

“Look at what happened after the attack on Peral Harbor. Just as we had done in World War II, we united. It was us against them, and the ‘us’ was all of the USA—united—all of us! That’s why you don’t see our enemies launching a major attack on US soil. They would unite us, and we are invincible when we are united. Instead, they eat away bits of us—like a cancer. They won’t stop. And we don’t stop them, because we are not united. If we allow this to go on, Western Civilization is doomed!”

I was getting irritated. John dumped out one dilemma after another with no solutions. A belligerent Phillip Stone said, “So we need to be victims of a major attack on US soil? Otherwise we become increasingly divided, and then are easily conquered? Your ‘divide and conquer’ theory? Come on, John. Really?”

John looked me in the eye and said, “We are being attacked right now! We are more divided than ever. It’s here—on US soil!” He shook his head. “Would you rather be run over and killed by a truck, or die slowly of something like Alzheimer’s?”

I wrinkled my forehead as I said, “Would I rather be killed by a truck or die of Alzheimer’s? Come on—I want more choices. With your truck or Alzheimer’s—either way I’m dead. I need more choices!”

A voice came over the intercom. “John Sloan, the doctor will see you now.”

John stood, and before he walked away, he said, “Choices. Yes, choices. We need more choices, for sure,” and he disappeared down the hallway.

I want you to take some time to think about this. “Divide and Conquer”—are we about to come apart? I know you’ll agree with one thing: we do need more choices.

For more insights go to PhillipJStone.com.