Why Are ‘They’ So Mad?

Editor’s Note: The protests and riots occurring around the world are seemingly unfathomable. How can an amateurish film spark so much outrage? Why doesn’t anyone appreciate our good intentions? Why are they so mad?

“They” is a word I’ve been hearing a lot recently. In one sense, its connotations are much too narrow. For many, it conjures images of Arab Islamists—ignoring disparate groups in places such as Afghanistan, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Yet in the most important ways it is much too broad. It overlooks denomination, nationality, ethnicity and, just as in America, party. They is not a monolithic mass. They is a collection of individuals, each person making decisions according to his or her own interests and passions.

And in asking why they are so mad, we forget that we, too, are they—one of countless actors on a world stage pursuing our own interests and passions, as well.

Such a worldview—us versus them, we versus they—undermines our ability to understand and respond to crises like those occurring now. It divides potential allies and empowers enemies.

The following essay was originally published May 27, route: {:controller=>"articles", :action=>"show", :id=>"we-shall-study-war-wars-are-not-bipolar"} --> as part of a Memorial Day series called