If I Were The Devil

How I Would Steal a Province, a Country, and more... Without Firing a Single Shot

If I were the Devil and wanted to steal a province…a country…and more,

I wouldn’t send an army. I wouldn’t need tanks. No, I wouldn’t fire a single shot.

I would leave the flag flying. I would leave the legislature standing. I would leave the courts open. I would leave the schools open. I would even let the people keep voting.

Because if I were the Devil, I would know something history has taught again and again.

The easiest thing to steal...is something people believe they still possess.

So I wouldn’t begin with politicians. Politicians come and go. I would begin with institutions. I would capture the regulators before I captured the government. I would influence the universities before I influenced the courts. I would shape the bureaucracy before I shaped public opinion. Because governments may change every four years. Institutions remain.

If I was the Devil, I would change the language.

I would never speak of surrender. I would speak of partnership.

I would never speak of control. I would speak of collaboration.

I would never speak of surveillance. I would speak of safety.

I would never speak of centralization. I would speak of resilience.

I would never speak of global governance. I would speak of international cooperation. Every word would sound noble. Every policy would appear reasonable. Every step would seem too small to notice.

If I were the Devil, next I would go to the schools.

Not to teach children what to think...but how to think about their country. I would reshape history. Redefine citizenship. Reframe identity. And by the time they graduated, they would see the world through a lens I had carefully crafted. Then I would go to the universities. Because today’s students become tomorrow’s judges...

Tomorrow’s lawyers...

Tomorrow’s teachers...

Tomorrow’s planners...

Tomorrow’s journalists...

Tomorrow’s bureaucrats...

Tomorrow’s ministers.

If they all learned from the same framework…. I wouldn’t need to convince them later.

If I were the Devil, I would quietly standardize the municipalities.

I would encourage common frameworks. Common indicators. Common reporting. Common strategic plans. Common definitions of progress. Every city would believe it was simply modernizing. Few, if any, would ask who wrote the standards.

Then I would redefine governance. Not with revolution, with agreements. Not with force, with policy. Not in a single dramatic act.

But one regulation...

One implementation plan...

One court decision...

One curriculum...

One agreement...

One administrative change...

At a time.

If I were the Devil, I would redefine land.

Not by confiscation. By interpretation. By legislation. By negotiated agreements. By gradually changing who makes decisions, how they are made, and under what authority.

And I would make every change sound compassionate.

Every reform sound necessary.

Every question sound unreasonable.

If anyone asked difficult questions...

I would never answer them. I would question the questioner. I would call them uninformed. Divisive. Extreme. Small Fringe Minority.

Because nothing is more dangerous than a citizen who reads the documents.

If I was the Devil, I would divide the people.

Not because division is the goal...But because divided people rarely compare timelines. They rarely follow funding. They rarely read legislation. They rarely ask who benefits. They argue with one another while institutions quietly evolve around them.

And if I were the Devil...

I would hope that every new policy was viewed in isolation.

Every law as an exception.

Every agreement as unrelated.

Because once people begin connecting the dots... They begin seeing the pattern. And patterns are difficult to hide.

So if I were the Devil...

I would pray that good people remained too busy...

Too distracted...

Too divided...

Or too trusting...

To ever read the documents for themselves.

Because the day they do...

They might begin asking different questions.

Not “Who should we blame?” But... “How did we get here?”

And once a free people begin asking that question...

The spell begins to break.

If I were the Devil…I’d be delighted that most people still believe none of this could ever happen in Canada.

An investigative allegory inspired by Paul Harvey's 1965 classic "If I Were the Devil." The events and questions explored are intended to encourage readers to examine public documents, legislation, policies, and governance for themselves.

CLICK IMAGE ABOVE