The Politics of Division
Sowing division as a strategy to both gain power and to remain in power
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"If [your enemy’s] forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them." ~ Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Divide and conquer is a strategy for prevailing in war that is almost as old as war itself. It entails splitting an opposing force into smaller groups allowing them to be more easily defeated one at a time. This strategy opens the way for weaker forces to overcome more powerful opponents: Aesop, the ancient Greek storyteller, ended the fable The Four Oxen and the Lion with the oft-repeated aphorism, “United we stand, divided we fall”.
Media- cable news, print and online news outlets, social media- continually focus on the divisions in our society. Choose the hobby horse you ish to ride: income inequality, climate change, women’s healthcare, guns, Ukraine, Israel; no matter the issue, you are told we are deeply divided. And the stark evidence of this shines most brightly in our politics.
Politically, we are a divided nation. The President is a Democrat and the Democrats have a voting majority in the Senate (51-49, only because 3 independent Senators choose to be counted as part of the Dems’ caucus). That is not enough of an edge to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to end a filibuster. The Republican minority effectively holds veto power over legislation. (I have written about this in the past.) In the House of Representatives, the Republicans hold a slim majority, 222-213, just 4 more than the 218 necessary to pass a bill. The infighting among Republican moderates and the more extreme ‘MAGA” members has divided that majority into further subdivisions. To pass legislation has required the dreaded “B-word”, bipartisanship, an approach anathema to the current GOP.
On the state level, there is a larger gap between the two major parties: As a result of the recent elections, the Republicans hold a ‘trifecta’* in 22 states, the Democrats in 17, and in 11 states, neither party has full control of government. Nationwide, voter registrations favor the Democrats who have approximately 49 million to 38.8 for the Republicans. Those identifying as Independent rank behind the Democrats and ahead of the Republicans. There are 210 million registered voters in the nation, although registration data is not completely transparent and therefore not precise. Nonetheless, efficient data mining of such data by political campaigns makes targeted messaging- and disinformation- to desired groups possible… And, of course, foreign entities who seek to make mischief in our electoral politics make use of the same approach.
The how of such division is not a secret: Gerrymandering, practiced by both major parties, guarantees safe Congressional seats even for a minority. Voter suppression limits the size of the electorate. The mass media prioritizes conflict over simple facts. in their quest for viewers and readers, and sometimes for partisan reasons (e.g. Fox News). Social media is used to pernicious effect by bad actors who spread conspiracy theories or unfounded rumors. In a networked world, there are myriad ways to spread a message of division.
Who gains from division?
So the more essential question is why: For a nation founded on the goals of bringing people “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, it would seem to be incongruous to introduce discord into our civic life in such a hamhanded way. Perhaps the plain motivation of the politician seeking to gain power and retain it is to abandon the practice of persuasion in favor of limiting the size and influence of the opposition. If wielding power can be corrupting, then desiring power can be, too. A politician out of office cannot deliver on promises made to wealthy donors.
Less apparent perhaps is a new twist in the long-term conservative efforts to shrink the Federal government. So, in the words of anti-tax activist Grover Norquest, “I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub”. Now the goal of the nihilists on the extreme right is to destroy the public’s faith and trust in the institutions of government by rendering them dysfunctional. The Republican majority in the House has made no serious attempt to legislate, to do the tedious work of governing. That is the point: They are using division to multiply their power.
*Trifecta: One political party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate, and a majority in the state house in a state's government. (Source: Ballotpedia.org)
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The founding fathers through their Constitution anticipated many avenues of corruption entering governance; also, ways those in power can corrupt it from within. But not all. They did not anticipate Manifest Destiny, the nation spreading from coast to coast creating circumstances for so many political divisions. Nor, an entire group of politicians--one party--seeking to overthrow the government. So what to do?
Extremists attack the voting base nowadays to diminish opposition numbers. So ordinary citizens must learn how important their individual vote really is and get out on election days. It is said that the 2024 presidential election will be decided by around a 100,000 votes in a handful of states, not 210 million voting-eligible citizens. That means extensive education in expensive and social media; it mandates citizenship training for all in public and private schools. (Today many college prep students in high school get only general American history coursework with citizenship limited to less adept non-college-bound students). High turnout of democracy/America thinking/favoring voters is the aim. Current events that militate against either voting or voting the 'right' ticket must be explained at all economic/social levels. Local, state and national political clubs must manage to facilitate voting in person with amenities on the long waiting lines and transporting those people without means to travel. Those things will counter the recent moves of extremist anti-government agents to lower vote totals. The efforts must be coordinated nationally by the democracy-minded party.
As for those already in government, they must be identified by mainstream media--not the ultra-partisan opposition ones--highlighted in their home districts, and ousted at the next election. This requires a lot of money for ads and personnel so newly-empowered unions, political and civic groups and wealthy individuals must step up and donate. Not the nickel and dime requests so prevalent in social media today but massive fund-raisers at critical moments in the election cycle.
Identifying radicals isn't hard since media tend to focus on them for audience attraction and resulting ratings/income production. Highlighting them is harder except in comparison to the good, citizen oriented, progressive actions--laws and regulations--that one party likes to promote. Side-by-side comparison and contrast, that old time technique for illuminating ideas and deeds is in order. Finally the sporadic and candidate specific 'give what you can' to a candidate or civic organization must yield to higher order thinking, planning and distribution of massive amounts of funds collected, say, at candidate announcement times (hopefully more coordinated across the nation), before-primary preparation/lead-up times, and campaign times especially just before elections when millions of folks actually decide on who they will vote for.
We need a modern day Manifest Destiny focused on preserving and enhancing democracy for every subsequent election, or yield to the forces who want to slow, stop or eliminate our government as we have long known it and want it to disappear in favor of dictatorship/autocracy/or fat-cat-ism rule.