Narrow Vision: Them Versus Us

I had a good friend over a few weeks ago. We had not seen each other in quite a little while and so he stopped-by for a visit. We often talk about politics and this time around, we began talking about international affairs. Indeed, the world seems to be getting smaller and international affairs is often on people’s minds nowadays.

At one point in the conversation, my friend mentioned how Canada should start arming itself “to the teeth”. I was shocked … I honestly was. This is a good friend of mine who I had not seen as one who indulges in fear. I mean, why would anyone want to arm themselves to the teeth unless they were afraid of something?

So, I asked him why he thought we need to arm ourselves to the teeth. His explanation was that as the rest of the world is crumbling to pieces, Canada is one of the few countries in the world with a lot of uninhabited land, lots of resources, etc. He said that many people will want to take what we have.

I was stunned for a second. Fear – that is all I could think … that is all I felt emanating from him. It was pure Fear. Usually my fangs come-out when I sense Fear around – wolves have that instinct. I kept calm though. I tried to point-out the Fear to him. He is a good friend so I thought I would try to help. I told him not to indulge in senseless Fear and to try to see past it.

As things stand now, Canada’s national security is safe. I highly doubt the United States government is looking for a fifty-first state and Russia is really nothing to worry about. I do not think they will cross the North Pole to take-us over. The raccoons invading our cities might be more of a worry …

I am not sure where all these fears arise from but I am finding the “them versus us” perspective quite tiresome. “Them versus Us” has kept the number of casualties rising on both sides, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Them Versus Us” is a technique which extremist groups (such as the Zionist movement, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, etc.) and even military lobbyists use, in order to promote fear and thus, their violent agendas.

When people cannot see past their own self; when people cannot see themselves in others, it is very easy to instill Fear and control them through Fear, with the “them versus us” talk. Yet, we are all the same. It does not matter what colour we are, what language we speak, we all want the same things: safety, security, the ability to strive and survive … how are we not all the same? Why pretend there are some “them” versus “us”? There is one planet and one people … We are all connected. We are All One: it is the “Law of One”.

I wish everyone well. All the best!

Note: My photograph, Toronto "G 20", Summer of 2010