“An ancient sage valued himself upon this, that, though he could not fiddle, he knew how to make a great city of a little one. The science that I, a modern simpleton, am about to communicate, is the very reverse.”

So Benjamin Franklin in 1773 began his “Rules for Reducing a Great Empire to A Small One (Rules for Reducing, taken from the Web site of the Oakland, Calif., school district’s teaching American history project, www.teachingamericanhistory.us/).” Franklin satirically offered 20 rules to ruin the British Empire. He surely wouldn’t mind a latter day simpleton borrowing the satire to offer 20 new rules to show how Lima is moving closer to its own worst-case scenario.

Franklin’s first rule: “In the first Place, Gentlemen, you are to consider, that a great Empire, like a great Cake, is most easily diminished at the Edges. Turn your Attention therefore first to your remotest Provinces; that as you get rid of them, the next may follow in Order.”

Our Rule I: All sides must alienate those furthest apart from their own views. If those factions discussed anything, no breakup could come. If they continue on their current paths, those in between the two sides more easily will find differences than they will similarities.

II. For everyone: You’ve done no wrong. Others bear all blame, which, following Rule I, is fine — total division being the goal.

III. People of both colors: Assume those you get along with speak for every person of a particular race. Ignore — better, insult — all the others, especially those with whom you disagree.

IV. Mayor David Berger: Rest on your laurels. Some white people say you’ve done more for race relations than anyone here, so you’ve done enough, despite what some black people say. See Rules I, II and III.

V. The administration, City Council and others: Assume the worst. If someone plans to march, publicly fret that those blacks might cause property damage. Stereotypes work toward total divide.

VI. City Council: Refuse to discuss matters of importance, especially those that appear “soft on crime.” If someone mentions unequal treatment, deny it could happen here, regardless of national trends.

VII. City Council: Use your seats in government to keep alive petty arguments. God surely appreciates the use of opening prayers to insult others.

VIII. The administration, City Council, police, prosecutors and judges: Ignore issues you just as easily can call state or national problems. Should anyone point out you’ve weighed in  on state funding for local governments or on national tax policy, denial and eye-rolling absolve you.

IX. Police: Hold grudges. If someone once was on the wrong side of the law, assume he forever is a mortal enemy.

X: Long-serving and retired police officers: Label as militant black leaders who criticize police on any matter.

XI: Berger, Councilman Tommy Pitts and the Rev. Bob Horton: Talk  only during City Council meetings to those with whom you disagree, or about them in other public settings. Insult. Once insults begin, turning the other cheek shows weakness.

XII: Police, Berger, City Council and whites: Be surprised anyone is aghast a drug raid with flash grenades and guns drawn takes place with six children in a house. Overlook that white underage drinking — involving the illegal use of a drug — doesn’t draw the same response. Ignore that whites open about their drug use don’t suffer such raids.

XIII: Media: Ask nothing. Police send news releases, and they cover who, what, where, when and why. They leave out how, but five out of six is plenty good. Asking questions confuses those living under Rule XII.

XIV: Clergy and black leaders: Catholics and Methodists are wrong. Their response to Allen County Sheriff Dan Beck’s treatment of Latinos is crazy. If those in a minority population aren’t large enough to be a voting bloc or to fill church coffers, what authority says you should worry about their equality? Everyone for himself.

XV: Clergy: Continue division. Black churches, insist all police are racist. White churches, insist every trouble visited upon minorities is their own doing. Restraint, equality and self-responsibility are not the business of the church.

XVI: Black leaders: Be assured every result must be race-related. Say black Republicans leave their people behind. Call anyone who cooperates with white leaders “Uncle Tom.” Assume racism drives every result, particularly those that do have a racial impact. Group labeling works as well as stereotyping.

XVII: State and U.S. representatives: Ignore problems to which state and national laws contribute. What can lawmakers possibly do about making laws, after all?

XVIII: Black leaders: Assume every current problem is the fault of those now in office.

XIX: Black adults: Don’t vote. Martin Luther King Jr. and others gave their lives to guarantee the right to vote, not the obligation to do so. Continue demanding change without voting to remove lawmakers from office.

XX: Everyone: Hope this goes away. Why solve anything today? That’s why you have children and grandchildren.

Ronald Lederman Jr. is editorial page editor of The Lima (Ohio) News. E-mail him at rlederman@limanews.com. Lederman is on at 3:30 p.m. Mondays on “Talk With Ron Williams” on Lima’s ESPN radio station, 940 AM, or at www.espnlima.com.

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