The United Crumbs of America

Any and every self help book resonates a similar solution to life’s obstacles–divide and conquer. Break large and complex problems into small and simple parts. It is easier to jump over several mole hills than scale a mountain. With any virgin problem or circumstance, a large and singular entity exists, but as men begin to interact with it, that singularity becomes divided. At every division, the large entity becomes less intricate and diverse, and the huge problem is dispersed among dozens of separate entities. When keeping the end goal in mind, the once massive obstacle has been hurdled. But are the divided segments ever put back together?

Intruding upon the unknown lands of North America, the early Europeans dug their ships onto the virgin sands and set out to divide and conquer the large continent. First with small colonies upon the Eastern shore, and then states forming as they expanded to the Mississippi, the Europeans segregated peoples and properties until they seized control of the new land. As these settlers moved west, their divisions became larger. The small segments of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Delaware transitioned into the larger lands of Georgia and Missouri. Lighting out to the territories, the new lines were drawn and soon Texas and Montana and Wyoming were divided and conquered. Along the Pacific coast, the far west of the new America, only three divisions arose to conquer the territory–Washington, Oregon, and California.

As more people now migrate to the coasts, the need for future divisions arises to manage regional disparities. A proposition for Six Californias has been proposed for this purpose. While the division of California may help conquer the problems of the area, a further division of the continent seems to defeat the initial purpose of the new land of the free–to be one united nation. Although the country has effectively operated in its fifty united divisions, as continued crumbling occurs, at what point does the country become nothing but lines of division?

A similar pattern of growth arises in the formation of businesses and organizations. A man begins building bicycles in his garage, and as more people begin to buy his work, he hires more workers to assist him. Jimmy seems to have an aptitude for attaching tires and gears whereas Timmy is much better at configuring brakes and handlebars. The man who started the business no longer needs to touch the bikes, as Jimmy and Timmy divide and conquer the building among themselves. Over time, finances are given to Oscar and advertising to Arthur, and before long, there are several layers of abstraction between the bicycle mechanic who founded the business and the people who work for it. With growth, finance departments form to manage the cash flow for buying rubber brakes pads for Jonathon, who works several managers beneath CFO Timmy. After so many divisions, the small parts become crumbs and no immediate loss is noticed when some go missing.

Let us welcome the six new divisions to the United Crumbs of America.