“United we stand. Divided we fall.”
Aesop
When we work on our own instead of as a team, we are each doomed to fail and we will all be defeated…
When we first faced the Coronavirus, something good emerged. Our severely divided and broken country became one. The feeling of unity was palpable.
No longer separated by bitterness into political party lines, together we applauded our heroic health care workers. People created funny videos of daily life in quarantine, which we all could relate to. The frustrating antics of hyperactive children, silly stunts with pets, the pranks and creative mischief brought on by being at home with nothing to do and no place to go made us laugh and feel connected.
We understood each other. The erudite among us created touching poems and the musically talented gathered people together remotely in harmony and we were inspired.
At a time like this, great leaders step forward. They encourage unity, provide clear direction, transparency, honesty, and factual data and support those in greatest need. They are capable of translating complex data into terms we can all understand. They have empathy for the fallen and grief stricken. They build trust. They communicate clearly and we listen.
However, no such luck for us! Our incapable, incompetent, inept and delusional psychopathic President completely washed his hands of any responsibility for recovery efforts. He ignored the facts in front of him, suggested truly insane remedies such as ingesting disinfectants, ignored and continues to ignore medical science and ridicules and fires world-renowned infectious disease experts when they don’t comply to his wants.
He shoves off all responsibility on to the shoulders of state governors. This, of course, has created discord and confusion within our country, leaving each state to scramble for much-needed supplies and head in their own directions.
Trump is the Great Divider. He thrives on fighting, fear-mongering and antagonizing anger. He has to be the center of attention at all times and he does this by creating division and sides. His short-sighted, reactive cult followers take the bait as he encourages them to “free” themselves from the “tyranny” of the state governors, most of whom are desperately attempting to integrate us back into life as safely as possible. These are the very governors whom he empowered to manage a response to the virulent disease, because he himself was too ignorant to come up with any kind of constructive plan.
Instead, last weekend, he apparently had nothing else to do, so he sent out 435 angry, accusatory tweets against Obama! Take a second to think about that. It’s ludicrous! Insane! Dangerous!!!
As a result, we as a people are now drifting apart again as he intentionally spurs people on to take sides, which drastically deepens the divide. Unable to have the rallies (yet) that feed his immense ego, (look at ME, appreciate ME, thank ME), he gets to be center of attention once again by flying around the country stirring up trouble.
However, I do not blame him for his depraved behaviors because he is a sick man and is simply doing what mentally ill people do who have his condition. The real problem is the group of politicians and people who feed off the bait he throws them.
Please don’t listen to Trump about ANYTHING! Please don’t fall victim to his lies. Beware of the angry, impatient, frustrated, frightened, fearful voice inside your head!! I know it is scary and confusing. Sometimes it can be terrifying not knowing what the future holds, but we WILL get through this as long as we stick together…We are a generous people. You will not be left alone.
We all recognize the incredible importance of getting our economy going again and we are. Listen to the leaders like Governors Cuomo and Newsome and others like them. Steady, strong, calm and capable, they are leading their states back into life as safely and sanely as possible. Don’t forget…United we stand. Divided we fall!
We’ve been doing so well. Stay the course. Don’t let your fear and impatience get the best of you now. We’re getting there. . . .
Remember the story about the tortoise and the hare?
I am reminded also of another tale.
Did we not all learn these lessons as children?
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. “What food might this contain?” It devastated him to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.
“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said,
“Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be caught in a mousetrap and I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house.”
The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured, you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow. She said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you. But it’s no skin off my nose.”
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.
Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.
But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife did not get well. She died and so many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
So next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
Communities were formed and various modes of transportation were developed. Roads soon followed.
The military’s over-spending with decreased allegiance of their soldiers were all major contributing factors that led to the fall of a huge empire.
The Dark and Middle Ages followed along with a surge of artistic creativity during the Renaissance (~1300).
Technological advancements like moveable-type printing increased communication and widened the dissemination of information.
Timelines in other cultures of ancient China and India and other countries, unfolded differently, but by the 18th century, due to world trade and colonization, the histories of most civilizations became substantially entwined into what we know today as globalization. The world has steadily become smaller.
Today, like never before in human civilization, we are confronted with rapid rates of growth in the areas of population, knowledge, technology, communications, commerce, weapon destructiveness and environmental degradation. 
It’s affected our attention span and ability to empathize and relate.
until it is learned. If we don’t learn it, the lesson will get louder and louder until it is learned.
