Constructed Division: The Oldest Trick in the Book

 Constructed Division: The Oldest Trick in the Book


If history has taught us anything, it’s this: divide and conquer works. Whether it’s class, race, religion, gender, or politics, the powers that be have mastered the art of keeping us apart. Why? Because division is their greatest tool to maintain control. The more fractured we are, the harder it is for us to rise together and challenge the systems that oppress us.


This isn’t by accident. It’s deliberate. It’s constructed.


Division doesn’t start with hatred. It starts with difference. Our differences could be beautiful, something to celebrate. But instead, they’re twisted into threats. Urban vs. rural. Workers vs. immigrants. Women vs. men. The list goes on.


This is how they play us:

They amplify fear.

They pit us against each other.

They distract us from questioning the bigger picture.


When we’re busy fighting amongst ourselves, we’re not fighting the systems that keep us all struggling. That’s exactly what they want.

Let’s not kid ourselves—someone always benefits from division, and it’s not us. It’s the people at the top. The ones who profit from broken systems. When we’re divided:

They stay in control. A united movement is a threat to their power. A divided one? Easy to dismiss.

They dodge accountability. We’re too distracted blaming each other to demand answers from them.

They hoard resources. Division creates the illusion of scarcity, tricking us into fighting over crumbs while they keep the whole pie.


Fear is their weapon of choice. Fear of the “other,” fear of change, fear of losing what little we have. And they feed it to us constantly. Through sensationalized headlines, political rhetoric, and social media algorithms designed to inflame.


Look around: Fear of immigrants justifies cruel border policies. Fear of crime justifies mass surveillance. Fear of each other keeps us from seeing who’s really behind the curtain.

Division may be constructed, but unity is a choice. Here’s how we dismantle the walls they’ve built between us:

1. Question the narrative. Ask yourself, “Who benefits from this story?”

2. Find common ground. Beneath the labels, we all want the same things: dignity, justice, safety, love.

3. Focus on the real enemy. The problem isn’t the person on the other side of the argument—it’s the system pitting you against them.

4. Build alliances. Change happens when different groups come together and fight as one.


History proves that when people unite, they’re unstoppable. Abolition, women’s rights, labor movements, civil rights—all were won because people chose solidarity over division.


Now it’s our turn. The challenges we face—climate change, inequality, systemic oppression—are too big for any one group to solve alone. The same systems that built our divisions are betting we can’t rise above them.


But here’s the truth: We can. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. It starts by rejecting the narratives designed to keep us apart and choosing, instead, to rise together.


So the question isn’t, Can we? The question is, Will we? Because the moment we do, everything changes.

~Shanti Freedom Das

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