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Learning to love us-versus-them thinking

Oppositional thinking is crucial to social change, but there are no permanent enemies.

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Jamesrowe.jpg
Jamesrowe.jpg

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An oft-rehearsed refrain in contemplative communities is that everyone needs to overcome ‘us-versus- them thinking’ (which I’ll abbreviate as ‘UVTT’). This intention makes perfect sense. Dualistic thought informs many of the vexing ‘otherings’ that shape our social worlds along the axes of race, class, gender, sexuality, species, and ability (the sad string goes on and on). Inasmuch as UVTT contributes to these systems of domination, then it should be transformed.