Once upon a time, a malicious monster named Swampy lived in the land of Victoria. People living together in peace and harmony in Victoria. There were craftsmen, farmers, bankers, engineers, teachers, and every other sort of profession you can imagine. Swampy was afraid that the Victorians would kill him if he were seen in public.
Swampy had a plan. If he got the people of Victoria to fight against each other, they’d be so busy fighting that they’d ignore him. He needed to devise a way to start the fight. He realized that people living in the forests relied on logging for their livelihood. The people who lived in the city wanted to preserve the forests for recreation on weekends. If he convinced the city people that the forest people were destroying their weekend recreation, he could start the fight.
Swampy printed a few notices in popular news media about the impending doom. In Forest News, he published articles on how the city people hated the forest people and wanted to take their land. In City News, he published articles about how logging was destroying the forests for the city people’s pleasure.
The plan was working. Soon, the forest people and the city people were fighting. Swampy used the same divisive strategy for the craftsmen vs the engineers. Then he started a fight with the teachers vs the bankers.
Swampy was pleased with his work, but one thing was missing. Each group would still kill him if they saw him in the light of day. Swampy realized he needed to create two factions of people to fight against each other. This way, he could join one side and help them defeat the other side. If his plan worked, he could be seen in public. Who knows? He may even be considered a hero.
Swampy followed through on his plan and created two factions who hated each other. The craftsman, teachers, and city people were called the Blue Faction. The engineers, loggers, and bankers were called the Red Faction.
Swampy’s plan worked better than he hoped. He grew stronger and stronger as he was fed by the winning faction. One year, Swampy would support the Red Faction, and the next year he’d support the Blue Faction. Swampy smiled as he realized that each faction had no idea how he was using them to benefit himself. As long as the battle between Red and Blue continued, he would live forever.
There were a growing number of Victorians who saw what Swampy was doing. These people watched Swampy use the Red or Blue factions. Swampy didn’t fear these people because he had grown very large. Plus, the Red and Blue factions’ hatred for each other was so great, that any new faction couldn’t survive. This small unorganized group of Victorians couldn’t ruin his plans. After all, these anti-monster people had no faction. Even if they did, they couldn’t gain Swampy’s support to defeat the entrenched factions.
No Happy Ending?
If you haven’t guessed, Victoria is the United States of America. Swampy’s story is an allegory of our current political system. The Red Faction and the Blue Faction are the two political parties that battle every election cycle to gain control over Swampy. Swampy is our government. The possible hero that could give this story a happy ending, is you.
Engineering Unity
If you want to see this fight for what it is, and better understand Swampy’s nature, I can help. I’ve published a book called Engineering Unity. In this book, I have objectively outlined twelve contentious political struggles. If you’re like most people, you have felt that you must ally with the Red or Blue factions. This is a lie. You can be true to your values while honoring the liberty and independence of others.
Engineering Unity exposes the fake fight and allows you to see a path to resolving political polarization. You can purchase Engineering Unity in Audible, Kindle, or Paperback versions.
About the Author
Jeff Schuster is an accomplished businessman, engineer, and writer. Three of Jeff's books are attempts at helping people understand and solve political problems that are being made worse by political partisanship. His first book, Trial & Error, is a collection of 14 short stories. ReEngineering Education is a story of innovative education reform in the midst of political corruption. Engineering Unity is Jeff's most recent book published in August 2023 addressing political polarization on wedge issues that politicians use to divide us. You are welcome to join our private Facebook group called Reengineering Politics where we discuss politically polarizing topics in a civil manner.
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