Divide and conquer: political tidal waves threaten to overwhelm the nation

“We always have to take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we have to intervene. When human lives are at risk, when human dignity is at risk, national boundaries and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion or political views, that place must become – at that moment – ​​the center of the universe.”

—Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize speech

Once again we find ourselves approaching the time of year when, like George Washington And Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, we are expected as a nation and as individuals to give thanks for our security and our freedoms.

But how do you say thank you for freedoms that are constantly being eroded?

How do you express gratitude for your safety when the dangers of America’s police state become more insidious by the day?

How do you come together as a nation in thanksgiving when those in power continue to polarize and divide us into warring factions?

You can see this struggle – to reconcile the hope for a better, freer, more just world with the soul-sucking reality of a world where greed, meanness and war continue to triumph – in John Lennon’s two songs: “To suggest” (who urged us: “Imagine all people living in peace”) and “Happy Christmas (the war is over)” (which was part of a major anti-war campaign, released within months of each other in 1971.

Lennon – a musical genius, anti-war activist and a high-profile example of the lengths the Deep State will go to persecute those who dare challenge its authority – made it clear that the only way to end hunger is through violence , war and tyranny means that you want it badly and work towards it.

All these years later, we still don’t seem to want those things badly enough.

Peace remains out of reach. Activists and whistleblowers continue to be prosecuted for questioning the government’s authority. Militarism is on the rise as the government’s war machine continues to wreak havoc on innocent lives.

For those of us who joined Lennon in imagining a world of peace, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile that dream with the reality of the American police state.

Those who dare to speak out about government corruption are labeled as dissidents, troublemakers, terrorists, lunatics or the mentally ill and tagged for surveillance, censorship or involuntary detention.

And then there are those who remain silent while the world falls apart.

By doing nothing, the spectators become as guilty as the perpetrator.

It works the same whether you’re talking about children seeing bullies tormenting a fellow student on a playground, passersby seeing someone die on the sidewalk, or citizens remaining silent in the face of government atrocities.

There’s a term for this phenomenon where people stand by, watch, and do nothing – even when there is no risk to their safety – while a heinous act takes place: it’s called the bystander effect.

Historically, this bystander syndrome, in which people remain silent and distant – mere spectators – in the face of terrible horrors and injustice, has led to entire populations being conditioned to tolerate unspoken cruelty towards their fellow human beings: the crucifixion and slaughter of innocents by the Romans . , the torture of the Inquisition, the atrocities of the Nazis, the slaughter of the fascists, the bloodshed by the communists and the cold-blooded war machines run by the military-industrial complex.

Psychological researchers John Darley and Bibb Latane conducted a series of experiments to discover why people respond with apathy or indifference instead of intervening.

According to Darley and Latane, there are two critical factors that contribute to this moral lethargy. First, there’s the problem of it pluralistic ignorance in which individuals in a group look to others to determine how to respond. Secondly, there is the problem of “spreading responsibility”, which is exacerbated by pluralistic ignorance. In short, this means that no one intervenes or helps, because everyone waits for someone else to do so.

Their findings underscore the fact that evil prevails when good people do nothing.

We see it all the time: when people speak out about politics, but remain silent in the face of human suffering and injustice, tyranny triumphs.

For example, that of psychologist Philip Zimbardo Stanford prison experiment studied the impact of perceived power and authority on middle-class students assigned to act as prisoners and prison guards. The experiment showed that power does indeed corrupt (the assigned guards became increasingly violent), and those demoted to prisoners became increasingly “submissive and impersonal, accepting the abuse and saying little in protest.”

This is how imperial presidents preside over police states.

What can we do? Be modern Good Samaritans and do your part to fight back against the darkness. Acknowledge injustice. Do not turn away from suffering. Refuse to remain silent. Take a stand. Speak your mind. Speak out.

“If you think there is even a possibility that someone needs help, act accordingly,” Zimbardo advises. ‘You might save a life. You are the modern version of the Good Samaritan That makes the world a better place for all of us.”

This is what Zimbardo calls “the power of one.” All it takes is one person breaking away from the fold to change the dynamics of a situation.

Here’s what I suggest: this holiday season, do yourself a favor and turn off the talking heads, turn off the screen devices, turn off the politicians, take a deep breath, and then do something to pay your blessings forward.

Find something to be grateful for about the things and people in your community for which you may have the least tolerance or appreciation. Instead of just listing things you’re grateful for that sound good, dig a little deeper and recognize the good in the things you may have undervalued or feared.

When it’s time to give thanks for your good fortune, put your gratitude into action: reward your blessings with actions that spread a little kindness, lighten someone’s burden, and brighten a dark corner.

Engage in acts of kindness. Smile more. Less fighting. Build bridges. Refuse to let toxic politics define your relationships. Focus on the things that unite rather than what divides.

Do your part to push back against the meanness of our culture with conscious compassion and humanity. Moods are contagious, good and bad. They can be passed from person to person. That includes the actions associated with those moods, the good and the bad.

Acts of benevolence, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can spark a movement.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diariesit only takes one person to start a chain reaction.

For example, a few years ago in Florida, a family of six – four adults and two young boys – was swept out to sea by a powerful current on Panama City Beach. There was no lifeguard present. The police were standing by, waiting for a rescue boat. And the few people who had tried to help ended up stranded as well.

Those on shore grouped together and formed a human chain. What started with five volunteers grew to fifteen and then to eighty people, some of whom could not swim.

One by one, they held hands and stretched as far as their chain could reach. The strongest of the volunteers swam past the chain and began to pass the stranded victims of the current along the chain.

One by one, they rescued the people in trouble and pulled each other in.

There is a moral here for what needs to be done in this country if we can only unite and prevail against the tidal waves that threaten to overwhelm us.