Us vs Them

In response to the recent bombings in London, England, I've had a few emails from people I know who are living there 1) to assure the people in their lives that they are safe, and 2) to speak about the experience of being there. One of the things that has me all riled up these days, is the issue of othering. In a nutshell, 'us' vs 'them'. So my question is who is 'us' and who is 'them'.

For example, the statements 'they don't see things the way we do' and 'I think they hate the west and feel like they want to get back at us' have my knickers in a knot. If by us, the implication all white, anglo saxon, caucasian born folks, then I'd like to bow out of that category. A category which seems to include the likes of good ol' George W, who has caused such massive loss of innocent life, and countless dollars in damages. Infact, if I were to take a quick peruse of world history, I think I would find that 'us' has caused much more damage and harm to other peoples, than anyone else. That is, if my afore mentioned definition of 'us' stands correct.

And what about 'them' or 'they' if you will. 'They' statements have been driving me nuts for years. 'They' are terrible drivers. 'They' make me feel unsafe when I see 'them' on the tube. I wonder how 'they' are feeling these days walking around London, knowing that 'us' is watching ever step they take. I wonder how 'they' feel, knowing that after a terrorist attack by 4 individuals in the 'them' category, that 'us' is likely going to send troops over 'there' and bomb the shit out of their homelands, killing their friends, family, neighbours, destroying the neighbourhoods they grew up in. I mean, if 'us' was going to be fair about it, only 4 of 'us' should go. But 'us' is a big fat bully, so that won't happen. Noooooo.

Last year in preperation for the 2004 Olympics, there were 2 swimmers from Iraq who were training at UBC as a part of an Olympic outreach program. One of the head coaches informed me of their presence, and assured me 'they won't bomb the pool, they're just here to swim.' Thanks. I feel much better. I thought initially that the 2 swimmers were here because their pools had been destroyed. Nope. Turns out that the US soldiers (read: 'us') had decided that they wanted the pool for themselves, so the up and booted the olympic hopefuls out. Nice. I think that 'us' is a bunch of jerks.