Us versus Them

I have started thinking about this lately because of the the recent problems that to some degree may be an outgrowth of the social isolation and stress many of us have been living under in the last few months.

More and more these days we find ourselves being subjected to and also being part of an "us versus them" mentality.  Of course in such situations we always think of ourselves as being completely justified in our beliefs and opinions.

In the following I am going to attempt to illustrate this with events from my own life without specifying my own particular beliefs.

Long ago I was associated with a certain religious group.  I subsequently left it after a rather prolonged affiliation.  More recently I have taken part in a social group where I have encountered the following statement multiple times.  A person in the group will say that they never were associated with such a group or that they immediately recognized a problem with such a group and they would "never have been idiotic enough" to participate in such a thing.

I generally just hold my tongue and say nothing, but realize rather quickly that I have just been called an idiot by someone with an "us versus them" mentality.  Of course they don't know what they have done, but I do.  I also know that I was not and am not an idiot.  Of course neither were the doctors, lawyers, engineers and even therapists who  were also participants in "such a thing."

On rare occasions I have responded to the, "I wasn't stupid enough to be part of..." statements with the following.  "Yeah, I once said publicly I wouldn't be stupid enough to be part of (fill in the blank), then I spent 13 years in there."  This tends to have the best effect after I have already convinced them that I am well informed on the subject (I think it kind of rattles their assessment of the situation).

This sort of "us versus them" mentality seems to surface more when the person believes themselves to be in the middle of a group that all completely agrees with them.

In the social group I previously mentioned there is a predominant, but not 100%, bent toward a certain political ideology.  One night a gentleman boisterously raised the question about what we thought of a certain political figure and how that person was just so great.  I guess my tolerance for the "us versus them" mentality had reached a low point and the gentleman was sitting too close to me.  So I responded as how I actually thought that person should be sitting in prison, then proceeded to state that facts that had been established which absolutely confirmed why.  Oh, and if you think you know who I am talking about you only have a 50% chance of being right because I was equally armed with a response pertaining to the the political opponent.

The point here is that even if I am affiliated with a group I am not "owned" by them nor are my thoughts or opinions.  I almost subscribe to the old Groucho Marx line that, "I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member."

I do my best not to subscribe to the "us versus them" mentality because I am not "us" I am me.  I am not always right or all knowing, but also the people I disagree with are not idiots, morons, or deplorable. All people have reasons for believing or doing the things that they believe or do.  The reasons may be rational or irrational.  The reasons may also be good or poor, but the reasons are seldom better just because of their association with a particular group.