#divide and rule

[whippersnappersbookworm]

So now what? The PM of this country has started directly attacking a community. I have put the whole thing together because obviously I will have "people" telling me that the majority matters or whatever they say. But are we really this blind to not notice what is happening? The ruling party is clearly using religion and communal tension (which they obviously instigated) to hide their inadequacies from the public. This is a tale as old as time: the ruling government has been using divide and rule policies to exploit and manipulate the public. Even after 10 years of their rule,  is the party's only way to gather votes? By causing division between communities? 

I am scared about the future. The rising tension between communities scares me. I await with bated breath the day it will finally burst. And you know who will be affected by this? Not the government, not the leaders, not those businessmen or celebrities. It will be you and me, no matter which community we belong to. We will be affected. 

[victusinveritas]

Please don't focus on how the rich are screwing you out of everything focus on the damn *slur * in bathrooms.

[gameraboy2]

Divide and Rule by L. Sprague de Camp Lancer Books 72-768, 1964 Cover art uncredited

[scribblesbyavi]

PM Modi to a hindu woman: Congress aapka mangalsutra muslim auraton ko de degi. Aur apka dhan jaidad vi muslimon mein baat degi.

Woman: Modi ji, dhan bacha hi kahan hain notebandi ke baad. Aur mangalsutra girwi rakh kar hi to ghar chala rahein hain.

[latin-phrases-showdown]

Divide et impera

"Divide and rule/conquer" is a political strategy consisting into creating tension to divide your people - that way, they won't gather behind a leader to overthrow the government in power. It was -still is - a way to break alliances of minor powers before they started growing - you had to make them loose their trust in each other.

It looks like it's been done a few times with conquered people in Europe.

The phrase (in Ancient Greek) is attributed to Alexander the Great's Dad (okay, he had a name and was fairly known : Macedonia started beginning more powerful and vaster because of him. You can call him Phillip II of Macedon)

Machiavelli used it in his Art of War.

[thewesternpolitics]

Under capitalism, the working class sells their labor-power to the capitalists on the market in exchange for wages, which they use to purchase means of subsistence required to survive.

National oppression is an intrinsic feature to the development of capitalism. The primitive accumulation of capital, slavery, and the expropriation of land and resources provided the material bedrock for white supremacy to emerge as a defining aspect of capitalism.

While the 1% are getting wealthier, the 99% remain obedient.

Divide and conquer until they own nothing and "are happy" !

[janesurlife]

I see what he's doing...Love you Max

[massivelyspeedyobject]

The real story of prosecution of minorities by Hitler & the resemblance

Credit: quora The prosecution of minorities under Hitler’s regime, particularly targeting Jews, is a dark chapter in history. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party implemented policies of systematic discrimination, persecution, and ultimately extermination of various minority groups, most notably Jews, but also including Romani people, disabled individuals, homosexuals, and others. The persecution…

[whippersnappersbookworm]

I don't have any hope left anymore. The reactions of Indians and the so-called "Hindutva army" to the happening genocide were eye-opening. It's not like I didn't know about their viewpoints, but still, I hoped that they were not many in number but rather a small but loud group of brain-dead people. But now, I have realised that the majority of the Indian population has the same view about Palestine. They don't care; rather, they are rejoicing and discussing how they wish they could do the same to Indian Muslims. They don't care about anything or anyone until and unless it fits into their narrative and helps them spread hate on minority communities (which includes all the minority religions and lower castes). They are drunk on hate and their distorted idea of religion. 

I am hopeless; I don't believe anything will change. The country is going down the same path that the colonisers hoped for. We will kill each other over a few man-made, fictitious concepts. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change. I can visualise a near future when history will once again repeat itself and there will be nothing left to do.

[kazifatagar]

Sultan of Selangor: Divide and Risk Regression Now

Politicians must ensure that national unity and harmony are upheld at all times and they have no business issuing fatwa as they wish says the Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. The country, says the Sultan, would regress should political leaders harp on propagating racial polarisation and instigating people. Divide Social Media Links Follow us…

[aquietwhyme]

The hypocrisy is not the point. Keeping us on constant defense, fighting for our right to exist instead of challenging their power, keeping us too divided and atomized to be effective, that is the point. The point is evil cult members aligning with amoral oligarchs to both further their own goals, to protect capital and drive poor desperate people into the arms of abusive churches, while eliminating anybody that challenges either goal.

The people behind bills like this have no morals, they have no faith, they only crave power. Hypocrisy is a perk for these folks, because it's a public display of their naked power that they aren't beholden to plebian values and ethics. In a way, the good vs evil rhetoric they peddle is true, in a darkly ironic way, because they publicly revel in being the evil they use their words to decry.

Literal motherfucking genocide!

[feckcops]

From Thatcher to Sunak – toxic divide and rule has always been the Tory weapon of choice

“In a briefing to the Conservative-supporting Times newspaper, reported under the headline ‘Rishi Sunak aims to divide and rule after poll setback’, an ‘ally’ underscored the prime minister’s intentions, informing readers that he intends to weaponise migration, trans rights and crime to turn around the Tories’ electoral fortunes. This is indicative of Sunak’s character and desperation, but is consistent with the oldest traditions of the Tories.

“This is a political party that has always represented the interests of Britain’s wealthy elite, but knows that it cannot win elections by presenting itself as doing so: in a democracy, after all, the rich represent a tiny slice of voters. This is why so many Tories fiercely rejected the expansion of the electorate: in the 19th century, the future Tory prime minister Lord Salisbury sulked that ‘first-rate men will not canvass mobs, and mobs will not elect first-class men’.

“As such, the politics of divide and rule has long been a key weapon in the Tory armoury. Migrants have been a particular target ... In the late 1970s, Margaret Thatcher stoked prejudice by declaring that ‘people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture’ ... Today’s Tories, of course, intend to deport scores of refugees and migrants, while describing them as the ‘invasion on our southern coast’, wilfully conjuring up imagery of weapon-toting armies ...

“The same goes for LGBTQ+ people. The Tories and their media allies waged a culture war against gay people in the 1980s, presenting them as would-be sexual predators ... Today’s Tories plan to compel schools to inform parents if their child changes their gender self-identification – placing many young trans people at risk of bigoted parents for the sake of indulging moral panic ...

“How depressing, then, that in Keir Starmer the Tories have an opponent devoid of any obvious principled core, who will do little to defend the targets of Conservative ire. Sunak’s desperate ploy – however rooted it is in a devastatingly effective Tory tradition – is unlikely to succeed, such is the nadir his party finds itself in. That will provide little comfort to the marginalised communities on the receiving end, and will leave our already morally corrupted democracy in a more toxic mire than ever.”

[chawsl]

[aquietwhyme]

Quality propaganda, and I mean that with no shade. Rosy-eyed views of America aside, this little video is as relevant today as it was in 1947 regarding the dangers of bigotry and fascism. 

[houseofpsychoticwomxn]

Cowboy!Frank finally giving you the attention you’d been silently begging for only after you’d tripped over your own skirt. hands covering your face in embarrassment as the mild-mannered man ditched his unfinished work to come over and help you up like a gentleman. though he hid his amusement well behind a ray avoiding squint and his characteristically unimpressed expression, you wanted to melt away all the same.

of all the lash fluttering, doting, eyes peeking up at him over the top of whatever novel you’d entranced yourself in that day, somehow this — this calloused hand moving your own from your face, this nothing-more-than-sensical gesture felt anything but. there was nothing to hide behind anymore and you had no excuse to reach for, instead reaching for his rough hands to help you up.

“alright? nothin’ to kiss better?” he teased, hoping to draw a smile out of you. he’d have to do better than that. his arms crossed over his chest as you dusted the remaining gravel and dirt from your skirt, leaning down to survey the damage left behind on your knees and shaking your head in response.

“nothing serious. your hands look worse.” you noticed the blisters on his palms and the lack of wince as he lifted you as simply as he would a chick, his rough road demeanor almost ill-placed with the tenderness you’d seen him show with the animals. mostly you wanted to rid yourself of the nervousness brought on by his presence, but it was hard to ignore the part of you that wanted to patch him up, show him that same level of care and gentleness.

he wiped a stray drop of sweat from over his brow with the back of his hand, residual dirt streaked over his face joining the rest. “don’t you go worrying about me now, you just watch where you’re steppin’, you got that?” he wagged a finger at you like a bad dog, close enough that if you didn’t know any better you’d think you were in trouble. but you did know better. Frank Castle — Mr. Tough Cowboy was a softie.

[s0fter-sin]

one of my favourite aspects of supernatural that you very rarely see in paranormal shows is that sam and dean are already versed in the world they live in. there’s no sudden discovery of ghosts and demons and now they have to learn about them along with the audience; they are born into it and already know all about it. it allows the audience to follow their personal story instead of also trying to figure out this new world and its rules

the first season is full of knowledge we never see them learn; “w*ndigoes are in the minnesota woods or- or northern michigan. i’ve never even heard of one this far west.” […] “great. well then this [his gun] is useless.” (1x02), “you don’t break a curse. you get the hell out of its way.” (1x08), d: “it’s a god. a pagan god, anyway.” […] “the annual cycle of its killings? and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. like some kind of fertility right.” […] s: “the last meal. given to sacrificial victims. d: “yeah, i’m thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god.” (1x11)

almost every episode in the first season is a monster they’ve faced before that they then explain to the audience in a way that should feel patronising; like it’s the same speech given over and over again but instead, the audience almost feels included in the knowledge. it’s stated with such an innate confidence and comfort in said knowledge that it feels like we already knew it too; “spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. if they want inside, they just go through the walls.” […] “the claws, the speed that it moves; could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog.” (1x02), “it's biblical numerology. you know noah's ark, it rained for forty days. the number means death.” (1x04), “no no no, not the reaper, a reaper. there's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names.” […] “you said it yourself that the clock stopped, right? reapers stop time. and you can only see 'em when they're coming at you which is why i could see it and you couldn't.” (1x12)

they already know and, at least in the first season, already have what they need to kill whatever they’re hunting; already know to salt and burn bones for spirits, fire for a w*ndigo, exorcisms for demons, a silver bullet to the heart for shapeshifters. there’s only three times in the entire first season that they run into something new to them; 1x14 when sam gets his first vision that leads him to another psychic, 1x16 when dean calls caleb for help on the sigil he put together and he tells him about daevas, and 1x20 when they find out vampires are real- and they only don’t know that bc john thought they were hunted to extinction and not worth mentioning

(there’s also technically two half instances if you count one of them knowing something the other doesn’t - sam figuring out the tulpa in 1x17 and dean already knowing about the shtriga in 1x18 - but those still rely on sam and dean having prior knowledge)

even when they’re uncertain about facing something, it’s not bc they don’t know what it is; it’s precisely bc they know what it is and acknowledge that it’ll be a difficult hunt (“i don't know, man. this isn't our normal gig. i mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. this is big. and i wish dad was here.” 1x04)

so much of the tension in paranormal shows typically comes from the main character(s) not knowing what is happening to them/the people around them and having to find out how to resolve it. supernatural is unique in that it operates more like a police procedural. the tension comes from solving the clues and identifying patterns to figure out who (what) the killer is and intercepting before they can take another victim

it’s such a different tone to go for when compared to other shows that came both before, during, and after its run. it sets sam and dean on even footing with each other since they both have the same knowledge going in, and it puts them in a place of authority usually reserved for an outside character

the shows i compare spn to most is charmed, buffy and teen wolf; every main character in those shows are brought into the paranormal world knowing nothing, putting them on the same level as the audience, and they have their mc interact with others already knowledgeable about that world in order to overcome their problem/monster of the week. the audience organically learns about this new world as the characters learn about it. it’s a sound writing strategy that prevents “as we already know”-style exposition but something that complicates it is if your world building isn’t unique or intriguing enough, this slow introduction can become boring

we’ve seen shows like these before; sitting through the same tropes of characters learning to use their powers, struggling with no longer feeling normal/relating to the regular world around them, and not knowing how much they can trust the people already involved in this new world gets repetitive. all three shows eventually reach the same level of comfort with their new world that spn starts with but if the characters aren’t enough to draw you in, you can end up dropping it before they reach that point (and often, before the overarching plot can really kick in and evolve the show beyond the villain of the week format)

it’s the superhero origin movie in tv format; dragged out and overplayed. dropping the audience into an established world of course comes with its own problems but you also have the benefit of pre-existing established character dynamics that let the audience slot in like they’ve always been there instead of just getting to know all the characters while the characters also get to know each other

sam and dean already knowing about the supernatural lets the audience immediately get to the core of the story; the conflict between sam and dean, the search for their father, and the mystery of what killed their mother