Divide and conquer--updated for the 21st century

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

The Romans are usually credited with the strategy of divide and conquer (Divide et impera). The conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar is often cited, but Gaul was pretty well divided before Caesar came in. To be sure, he exploited those divisions. There are dozens of examples of how this strategy has been applied, including colonial powers taking over larger countries by fomenting rival factions, as well as literal examples of armies being forced to divide up their forces to lose battlefield advantage.

These days, the battlefield has shifted to moral and cultural issues, and how virtually all of the opposing factions are already divided politically. In most cases, the notion of “freedom” has been distorted beyond all recognition.

A simple dictionary definition of the word, such as “the quality or state of not being coerced or constrained by fate, necessity, or circumstances in one's choices or actions” conveys the popular understanding, But, Catholic theology adds an important provision.

St. Thomas Aquinas held that freedom “is by its nature ordered to the good, and tends to evil only by defect.” Thus, there is an inherent moral component, and that has been largely stripped away in today’s popular culture. While there may be universal agreement that your feeling “free” to break into someone’s home and steal their jewelry is improper, there is certainly debate as to whether it is acceptable for Antifa thugs to destroy property.

Since the school prayer decisions of the early 1960s, battle lines have been intentionally drawn that would divide us, and create all sorts of political causes. In virtually all cases, spurious notions of “individual freedom” were invoked.

In the latest manufactured issue, so-called “transgender” individuals are demanding all sorts of “rights,” that not only defy logic and reason, they also grossly infringe on the legitimate rights of others. But, they create a political divide and a cause!

Who could have predicted that formerly legitimate organizations would support putting men on women’s sports teams, or “gender-transforming” mutilation surgery? Yet, once respected hospitals are rushing to become the leaders in these procedures. Who could have predicted that the mainstream media would become nothing more than stenographers for the government line?

In both of these cases, the elite morons in charge—clearly possessing no morality whatsoever—must take the “progressive” side, while they work hard to deny the irrationality of what they are doing. At the same time, people of good will, whether or not they speak out, are forming the other side of the divide.

However, even most of the “good will” side is also being fooled as they look for saviors in the government to right these wrongs. Yeah, the same government that encouraged these outrages in the first place.

We’ve already been divided, and most of us have already been conquered.