{"id":9746,"date":"2024-04-08T00:04:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T00:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/keithgiles\/?p=9746"},"modified":"2024-04-08T05:07:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T05:07:10","slug":"why-they-keep-us-apart-how-division-drives-our-corporatocracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/keithgiles\/2024\/04\/why-they-keep-us-apart-how-division-drives-our-corporatocracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Why They Keep Us Apart: The Power of Division"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

IMAGE: Keith Giles [MidJourney]<\/figcaption><\/figure>A recent survey<\/a> posted by the Associated Press last week really opened my eyes to something.<\/p>\n

In fact, when I first saw this graphic [see below] it was such a shock to my mind that I had to take a few minutes to reorient myself once again to reality as it is versus reality as it is projected on to us.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the graphic from the survey<\/a> which asked Americans [both Democrat\/Republican, Christian\/Muslim, Atheist\/Deist, Black\/White, Male\/Female, etc.] to rank how much they valued the following fundamental rights:
\n<\/p>\n

What shifted my paradigm was realizing that we, as Americans, are actually more in agreement than our media suggests we are.<\/p>\n

We are not as divided as they want us to believe.<\/p>\n

But, WHY do they want us to believe we are so divided? Why is it so important that we remain divided into our Left\/Right, Progressive\/Liberal, Blue\/Red, Christian\/Non-Christian, Black\/White, Male\/Female, boxes?<\/p>\n

Because as long as we\u2019re divided against each other, the less likely we are to realize who is pulling the strings and benefitting from our divisions.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another graphic that a friend shared with me over the weekend as we were discussing this very topic.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is reality, my friends. The rich are richer than ever. The poor are more poor than ever, and their numbers are increasing.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a mind-boggling disparity between the bottom 40 percent of American Households and the Top 1 percent, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Just take some time to really think about this before they distract you with outrage, or get you upset at \u201cthose other people\u201d who did this, or said that, or believe something you don\u2019t believe.<\/p>\n

Look at it. I mean\u2026really\u2026LOOK at it. Now, think about what it means.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m guessing if you\u2019re reading this, you\u2019re not in the Top 1 percent bracket. You\u2019re probably [like most of us] in the Bottom 40 percent. Just look at how tiny that little line is compared to the massive block on the right.<\/p>\n

Is that fair?<\/p>\n

Is that what reality should look like?<\/p>\n

Is that what America is all about?<\/p>\n

Is the American Dream only for a very tiny handful of Americans and the vast majority of us are left to fight over the scraps?<\/p>\n

Apparently, so.<\/p>\n

This is also why our politicians spend so much time solving problems that are mostly imaginary and saving us all from dangers that are completely benign.<\/p>\n

For example, Tennessee passed a Bill protecting its citizens from the fictional evils of Chemtrails last week, and then passed a Bill outlawing Vaccine Lettuce [which also does not actually exist].<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why State Governors pass laws protecting citizens from the deadly threat of Drag Queen Story Time which has claimed the lives of exactly zero children, and harmed exactly no one while ignoring all the very real dangers of Gun Violence [the #1 killer of children in America], and doing nothing about America\u2019s Mental Health Crisis, or the Homeless problem, or anything else that most Americans actually WANT their leaders to do something about.<\/p>\n

Because, as my friend said to me over the weekend, if they actually solved all of those real problems, we might have enough time to realize that only one percent of Americans control more wealth than the entire \u201cMiddle Class\u201d [which is quickly becoming a vanishing category].<\/p>\n

The truth is, the American economy is inching closer and closer to that of a Third World Country where a tiny few people control the wealth and everyone else is at the bottom in poverty.<\/p>\n

How many people do you know who work more than one job? Or more than two?<\/p>\n

How many people do you know who buy their groceries on the credit card every week?<\/p>\n

How many people do you know who are so deep in debt they\u2019ve given up ever paying everything off?<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s you.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s most of us.<\/p>\n

So\u2026don\u2019t fall for the bullshit. We are not as divided as they say.<\/p>\n

We have more in common than anyone wants you to believe.<\/p>\n

But, there are a handful of people with most of the money and all of the political power who want desperately to keep us fighting one another.<\/p>\n

They desperately need us to keep playing the Us\/Them game.<\/p>\n

They need us to keep focused on the White\/Black, Gay\/Straight, Republican\/Democrat, Christian\/Non-Christian, [fill in the blank], divisions.<\/p>\n

Because as long as we\u2019re raging against the machine we\u2019ll never stop to focus on who built this machine.<\/p>\n

This machine doesn\u2019t work for us. It doesn\u2019t work for you.<\/p>\n

It exists to make a very few people extremely [and I do mean \u201cextremely\u201d] wealthy at your expense.<\/p>\n

As of 2023, there were 735 Billionaires in the US. That may sound like a lot, but keep in mind that there are 333 Million people in America.<\/p>\n

So, we vastly outnumber those with the Top 1 percent of the wealth.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a crazy idea\u2026maybe they should pay more taxes than we do?<\/p>\n

Maybe those on the bottom 40 percent shouldn\u2019t be the ones bearing the lion\u2019s share of the taxation burden in this nation?<\/p>\n

Because the reality is that the extreme wealth of a few creates extreme suffering for the many.<\/p>\n

People on both sides of the Us\/Them game get eaten up by the machine.<\/p>\n

Black, White, Yellow, Brown and Red people suffer from poverty.<\/p>\n

Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, and Atheists are all the victims of the economic disparity.<\/p>\n

Men and Women, Gay and Straight, Trans and Queer people are all chewed up and spit out by wealth inequity.<\/p>\n

Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Progressives and Conservatives alike know what it\u2019s like to struggle to pay their bills.<\/p>\n

Every single one of us knows the pain of economic warfare.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why they want to keep us fighting one another over imaginary divisions: so we don\u2019t stop and notice who\u2019s really turning the screws on us.<\/p>\n

But, I can hear some of you right now saying: \u201cKeith, aren\u2019t you still playing the \u201cUs\/Them\u201d game by making the Top 1 Percent into another \u201cThem\u201d group that we can demonize and scapegoat? Seems like you\u2019re falling into your own trap, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hmmm\u2026that\u2019s a great point. Maybe I am still caught playing the Us\/Them game. Those Billionaires all share in our Divine Unity. They are all one with the rest of humanity, right? So, what\u2019s the big deal?<\/p>\n

Well, maybe the big deal is that the handful of people in the Billionaire class have forgotten that shared Divinity and shared Humanity between us. They\u2019ve allowed the love of money to cloud their vision and deceive their minds.<\/p>\n

What if the answer is to try to show those ultra-wealthy One-Percenters the truth: that they are One with the rest of us, and that their extreme wealth is harming people who are the same as they are.<\/p>\n

What if there was a way to open their eyes to the reality of how much their hoarding of money is hurting them when it hurts us?<\/p>\n

What if they could feel what we feel? What if they could awaken to the truth of how their abundance creates extreme suffering for their own flesh and blood?<\/p>\n

But, then again, maybe it\u2019s easier to just keep playing their game.<\/p>\n

Why rock the boat? Why fight the system?<\/p>\n

They have all the wealth and all of the political power. What can we do about it?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get back to our Us\/Them games.<\/p>\n

At least we can distract ourselves while the machine chews us up and spits us out the other side.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll always have Netflix and Diet Coke and McDonalds and, oh look, they\u2019re building a new Buc-ee\u2019s<\/a> down the road!<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s why everyone\u2019s afraid of being \u201cWoke.\u201d It\u2019s just too terrifying to open your eyes and see reality as it truly is.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just take the blue pill and go back to sleep again.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang\u2019s<\/a> \u201cTell Me Everything.\u201d He hosts the\u00a0Second Cup with Keith<\/a>\u00a0podcast, and co-hosts the\u00a0Apostates Anonymous<\/a>\u00a0podcast, and the\u00a0Heretic Happy Hour Podcast<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent survey posted by the Associated Press last week really opened my eyes to something. In fact, when I first saw this graphic [see below] it was such a shock to my mind that I had to take a few minutes to reorient myself once again to reality as it is versus reality as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3089,"featured_media":9755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,507],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-politics","category-general-christian-topics","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy They Keep Us Apart: The Power of Division<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Americans are actually more in agreement than our media suggests we are.We are not as divided as they want us to believe. 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