East and West Side Stories

The ancient ‘Divide and Conquer’ strategy we must overcome

The original production of West Side Story was a significant musical backdrop to my childhood. From the first time I heard the songs (probably on good old-fashioned vinyl), to the movies and the many and varied live performances I made an effort to see. Because of its classic storyline, encapsulated for many in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it is a timeless piece that I often return to, albeit now on the modern medium of my eclectic Spotify playlist.

So, what is it about this classic storyline that is so meaningful and why is it that today (after a sunny public-holiday weekend to reflect on things) I’m choosing to write about this?

Many of my readers already know about the behavioural science strategies from (e.g.) the UK’s Nudge Unit that have been weaponized against us over recent years (and way before that, but less explicitly). In a nutshell, these strategies are about how to divide and conquer - the manipulation of our belief systems that emphasise our fundamental difference (whether that be cultural, ethnicity, class, faith etc) to the ‘Other’. Our emotions always respond first, rational thought afterwards.

Intense emotions are an important element of the success of West Side Story. That crucial factor (to get the audience on the edge of their seats) of ‘difference’ is portrayed in the Puerto Rican gang known as the ‘Sharks’ who are caught in a fight for dominance in their neighbourhood against the ‘white’ American ‘Jets’. Assumptions about each others’ difference increase prejudice and fear. But as Celindro importantly points out, the writer is pointing out a paradox. The Jets appear to suffer from cultural amnesia about their heritage - have they forgotten about US Eastern European immigration (including from non-white countries)?

This is as true then, as it is today, as Prof Sachs pointed out in a recent discussion, this lack of knowledge (or is it acknowledgment?) about crucial historical events (especially in legacy media) seems all-pervasive and is aggravating geo-political tensions.

This symptom of cultural amnesia is caused by systemic failures of most education sectors.

As an educationalist, one of my ongoing objectives is to build into every learning experience a raised awareness of psychological theory like behavioural science strategies like divide and conquer, for my students. The elephant in the room that represents the propaganda is then easier to spot – not only in Government or BigPharma (subliminal) advertising, but in other areas of our lives too. After all, isn’t propaganda fundamentally unethical marketing?

It’s not a coincidence that West Side Story began its evolution as East Side Story. It doesn’t matter what side of our symbolic ‘fence’ between ingroup and outgroup we are positioned. One of the main messages within West Side Story is how binary thinking of ‘Us vs Them’ is dangerous because it does not reflect our complex human reality. This binary thinking is socially constructed (evolutionary scientists argue it has helped us survive, so far!), but sadly, our human instincts run contrary to this reality.  The ingroup/outgroup experiments are numerous (I won’t repeat them here) and show how powerful this trait can be, when manipulated and exploited. Especially in the wrong hands. This paradigm is difficult (but not impossible) to escape from. We can use mindfulness techniques to help us pause, breathe and consider our emotional response to these innate biases. To reconnect with each other.

During the covid era we saw binary thinking in action through the false creation and promotion of the labelling of groups of truth-seeking such as ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ or ‘Anti-Vaxxers’ etc. But when we investigate the aims of the entities promoting these labels and binary thinking, a world of curiosity opens up. No wonder that many people are beginning to question other elements of news or events that have previously been labelled ‘conspiracies’  - was that label applied for nefarious reasons?

Photo by DJ Paine on Unsplash

In his excellent book 180 degrees: unlearn the lies you’ve been taught to believe, Feargus O’Connor Greenwood explains that the term ‘conspiracy theorist’ entered common American vocabulary in the 1960s. It’s not a coincidence that was a significant decade in terms of global economic and societal change. He explains the original source for the terminology could be the CIA’s Strategy Paper Dispatch 1035-960 which sought to deliberately marginalize and discriminate against truth-seekers who questioned the official narrative. To quote from that paper (1967):

“This trend of opinion is a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries. Background information is supplied in a classified section and in a number of unclassified attachments. b. To employ propaganda assets to and refute the attacks of the critics….”

Greenwood’s book summarises some practical ways to engage the conspiracy theory strategy, which include:

·       Ignoring ‘theorists’ claims entirely, unless discussion is already widespread, in which case re-frame them with the propaganda. (We saw an example of this on Friday with the BBC gaslighting of MP Andrew Bridgen’s speech in Parliament about excess all-cause mortality).

·       Accuse ‘theorists’ of being infatuated with their own theories – e.g. “Let’s move on”.

·       Accuse ‘theorists’ of being politically-motivated, financially captured or similarly conflicted.

·       Accuse ‘theorists’ of exaggerated claims, impossible because of the large-scale corruption that would be needed.

I’m sure we all have examples from our own experience where these strategies have been applied by/to us, friends and family (whether consciously or not). But, however the ingroup/outgroup tactic is applied, it is the abuse of language that is important to consider. Changing the meanings of words or phrases is a slippery slope that Orwell describes so effectively in 1984 – e.g. doublespeak.   

It was ten years prior to this CIA document, in 1957, that West Side Story was first performed. But interestingly, the genesis of the original East Side story goes back to about 1949 – so close to WW2. The original writer and choreographer, Jerome Robbins, conceived the ingroup/outgroup conflict being between an Irish Catholic and a Jewish family who escaped the Holocaust, living in New York City. Later, the story changed again, Tony went from being cast as an Irish American, to an American of Polish and Irish descent, and the formerly Jewish Maria - became Puerto Rican.

The original creator, Jerome Robbins, writer, Arthur Laurent, lyricist, Stephen Sondheim and composer, Leonard Berstein were all from Jewish backgrounds. It would have been fascinating to have been a fly on the wall during those years of West Side Story’s development. And perhaps relevant in our current context of conflict, political strategies and propaganda is that Bernstein and Laurents were apparently both blacklisted in Hollywood circles for potential communist party involvement. Does this context bring new meaning to some of the lyrics?

Controversy was not only in the lives of the artists: to maintain some genuine ‘street talk’, the F-word and (invented) slang is used in the script – yes, that caught my attention as a child! But Jewish music has very unique stylist elements, it is ancient after all. And as a young musician myself back then, I could already recognise those distinctive features - like a haunting chant. Later, as a member of the school band, other popular Jewish songs (like those from Fiddler on the Roof) for Christmas concerts were challenging to play because of those tricky key signatures and rhythm.  Incidentally, funny how things re/connect – Hammerstein was the dramatist for Fiddler, and also apparently previously had persuaded Sondheim to join the West Side Story project as lyricist. And the original story of Fiddler is based in what is now called Kyiv.  

Anyway, the two lovers in the story – Puerto Rican, Maria and American ‘Jet’ member, Tony – represent the connection possible between and within humanity when we are artificially divided into two groups. Two groups that can be picked from any period of human history, in any country or culture. Divisions that others can manipulate and exploit to divide and conquer.

But remember it is what unites these two characters that has made this classic musical so successful for so many decades. It is their authenticity and love for each other. Isn’t that the most profound lesson we can all learn in this current global chaos? Why is it that humanity can’t seem to learn lessons from history, or understand our own (positive and self-destructive) behaviours? Is there a way for nature to overturn social constructs? Or perhaps the most important question for me, is:

Can a new education system, and new way of teaching and learning help address these problems?

Like all popular ‘Romeo and Juliet’ love-stories, heartbreak is inevitable in West Side Story. Because of the powerful forces that promote hate of whatever our ‘outgroup’ is, there is simply no escaping the tragedy that is the ultimate separation of our souls.

Max Kleinen on Unsplash

But the message of hope is powerful at the end. In the dramatic performance this is usually in the way that both sides in the conflict come together in grief, in a final realisation of the futility of violence that leads to loss of life. But musically too; the orchestra portrays a change of key providing renewed optimism of positive futures.

Please Pray for World Peace.