Today in English class we discussed the us-them dichotomy. I'm not sure if my readers have had much discussion in the creation and existence of the "other" (be it through debate, class, or free reading), but hopefully this isn't too complicated.
On almost any conceivable scale, humans create a forced dichotomy - sometimes as 'small' as an individual scale of 'they don't listen to the pop music I like, they're emo" to entire cultures judging one another such as some Americans being so ready to think of all Muslims as the 'enemy'.
These dichotomies are dangerous and at the very least, greatly limit the potential for valuable life experiences. Arguably, they will always exist to some extent (people will always try to fill the void they subconsciously feel in understanding who they are themselves). However, we should try to recognize them. Recognize them to overcome the biases they create.
To end/your challenge -
Here's a music video by the Flobots. The song is entitled Handlebars.
At the beginning two children are friends. At the end, well...you'll see.
Discuss in the comments what role you think the us-them dichotomy plays in the video.
Here are lyrics for reference.
Wow! I knew people judged each other but never knew what the word was. The video was a great example of us-them dichotomy. I saw it as a guy too caught up in making himself liked by everyone that he forgot who his real friend was and made an army against him. I also agree with you and believe that people have a hard time finding and defining who they really are. In the end we are all human. Hope to see more amazing things and please comment on my blog http://simrankgt2.blogspot.com/ :)
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