THEY and US
(Publication Date: February 14, 2007)
It all began
with saying “they” and “we.”
The distinction between “they” and “we”…
The problems were even
bigger than before.
But saying “they” and “we”
was always an obstacle to overcoming problems.
It was a kind of alienation.
“Othering.”
***
Mehmet the grocer no longer
looked at Mr. Ahmet, the lathe operator, the neighborhood’s best-loved figure and a regular customer…
To Mehmet,
Mr. Ahmet now belonged to “them.”
And Mr. Ahmet said of Mehmet,
“He isn’t one of us.”
It seemed that a divide
had begun in the neighborhood.
The warm exchanges that used to go, “Good morning,” “Well, hello, Mr. Seyfi, how are you?” and “Good evening” were gone.
The polarization that began
with talk of “they” and “we” had spread from neighborhoods to streets, from streets to towns, and from towns to the country.
People in that country had
become strangers to one another, and polarization had reinforced the idea of “the other.”
At the root of this divide
between people in the country were certain circles, now known to everyone and intertwined with the concepts of “they” and “we.”
*
The divide had deepened
so much that it had become impossible to recognize the scale of what was happening.
The divide had deepened
so much that, in every setting, people were being questioned about whether they were one of “them” or one of “us.”
Yet the last thing that
country needed to overcome its problems was polarization.
That country had so many
problems that, let alone polarization, even any dissenting statement directed at the outside world only made those problems worse.
*
There were not only external
problems in the country; there were problems at home, too.
But the concepts of “they”
and “we,” spreading like a virus from neighborhoods to streets, from streets to towns, and from towns to the country, were also making it impossible to solve the problems at home.
Cheap political games were
being played using these concepts; votes were being hunted down; spoils were distributed to those who were one of “them” and those who were one of “us”; and injustices were perpetrated according to the polarization created among citizens.
*
The system in that country
had reached such a state that a different problem arose from every direction.
The impossible was happening
in politics: defections, resignations, bargaining over ministries, new parties, and new governments were being formed.
Even the country’s president,
whose political life had been tarnished, was being saddled with unthinkable labels.
Yet tomorrow, that office
would represent the country in resolving external problems!
While the country faced
problems with water, the environment, electricity, infrastructure, traffic, and so on—that is, while the problems of those who were one of “them” and those who were one of “us” were shared—one side’s problems were not becoming the other’s…
*
In a very short time,
more ballot boxes had been set up than there are fingers on one hand; the people, alienated from the society they lived in and caught up in a divide of “they” and “we,” had been forced to vote again and again.
Beyond the elections held
in quick succession, promises and hopes had been offered to the people; but none had come to pass.
The distinction between
“they” and “we,” which had emerged as the legacy of all these negative developments, was still being stoked for the interests of certain circles.
Yet, to solve the problems
in the country, Mehmet the grocer and Ahmet the lathe operator needed to embrace one another as they had before.
Only in this way could
polarization that had spread from neighborhoods to streets, from streets to towns, and from towns to the country be eliminated, and national unity and solidarity in the country be achieved.
Only through this embrace
could that country tackle its domestic and external problems and improve its chances of success.
Of course, if we had
leaders capable of bringing about this embrace, this dream would come true.
Until Friday… Be courteous
in traffic!
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