by Bill Cottringer

“Divide and rule, the politician cries; Unite and lead, is watchword of the wise. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gedichte.

     In war, the divide and conquer rule has always gotten the expected results. Ironically though, this same principle can also be useful in bringing peace to the Divide in our country. The conquering of the Divide requires more dividing to understand the real problem.

The Divide

   The divide that is causing so much painful disagreement and even violence today in our country, is based on two things: (a) the fundamental differences in which we can view life and others, and (b) what we choose to believe based on the strength of our feelings towards the anticipated outcomes.

     On one side of the fence there are people who lean towards behaviors such as  being positive, hopeful, trusting, proactive, open-minded, appreciative, unselfish, and humble. On the other side, there are people who tend to think and act in ways that are negative, hopeless, untrusting, close-minded, unappreciative, selfish, and egotistical. Of course, there are many mixtures in between. At this point we probably have a convenient over-simplification. So, when we subdivide the Divide further, we get closer to a better understanding of the core problem.

Subgroups of the Divide:

     Here is a baker’s dozen main subgroups of the Divide:

·       Ultra-conservative right-wing Republicans vs. bleeding heart, liberal left-wing Democrats.

·       Cynical, hopeless, negative pessimists vs. pure hopeful, positive idealists.

·       Marginalized, socially conditioned victims vs. the power-holding marginalizers.

·       Power-deprived bullies vs. powerless subjects.

·       People touting the principle of personal freedom and rights above everything else vs. those who value the egalitarian public good and safety for the majority.

·       Close-minded persons with tunnel vision vs. open minded ones with 360-degree vision.

·       Bold, proactive leaders vs. scared, reactive followers.

·       Intelligent people who think they know for sure and make a lot of noise about it vs. wise people who know they know and keep quiet about it.

·       Change accepters vs. change resisters.

·       Those who see danger and run away from it vs. those who see opportunity and run towards it.

·       Folks who maintain the illusion of free will vs. those who work on closing the gap between their perceived free will and the sensed destiny they were born into.

·       Egomaniac, self-centered narcissists vs. unselfish, other-directed, humble people.

·       Mindless, desperate religious zealots vs. mindful, appreciative spiritualists.

   And if this division isn’t getting us to the point of clarifying a definitive ideological departure, then divide these subgroups further into the extremes of both sides of the issue on the continuum. That is where the real trouble lies, with the bigger silent majority somewhere in between everything— viewing truth as tentative and evolving with a patient wait and see attitude, without anticipating and pre-judging outcomes before they happen.

     The problem is that the silent majority who need to lose their silence and speak up, with civility, creativity and candor in helping us close the divide with collaboration, cooperation and compromise. A good start is to realize the way beliefs form from experience and then become validated from outcomes.

     But seeing isn’t always believing. We have too many interfering cognitive biases which distort our lenses to see the truth, often in spite of the facts. At some point, we unconsciously decide we have done enough to assure ourselves that our chosen beliefs are correct and any new information contrary to that is discarded as a piece of the puzzle that doesn’t fit with our puzzle.

    Why we play this hide and seek game with truth and success has always been a mystery. Perhaps it is because we just like to work hard to make something our own and enjoy a surprise of finally finding it.

     Although the growing conflicts and differences appear to be settling in cement and becoming virtually impervious to changing, hope will always persevere on both sides of the fence. That is because hope is buried deep inside our souls and can never be taken away completely, regardless the degree of adversity. It will always have at least a tiny spark to re-ignite. And this is where cooperation, collaboration and compromise come into play with civility, creativity, and candor.

“Division can't bring peace and security, only assimilation can.” ~Abhijit Naskar, Fabric of Humanity.