Competition

We love to team up with others and go head-to-head with some other group of people. We just need a justifying characteristic in forming the group. Then, two former enemy groups may join to face some entirely other group. It could be any characteristic that defines any of the groups. Here are personal examples: At my high school, freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors complete against each other all through "Spirit Week" and finally on "Class Night" (Oh, the faculty participates in Class Night too - I think Mr. Anderson is undefeated in Jell-O wrestling). Then, the whole school comes together and root for the high school as its and BMHS's football teams go and get it on each Thanksgiving. Norwalkers all over will then come together to mock people from Darien or New Canaan but then most of those people will likewise come together to cheer the New York sports teams and jeer the Boston teams and the "Massachusetts-side" Connecticut residents who support them. Two Connecticut people from both of those halves of the state would support each other in defending the state against another state, and more broadly the Northeast in contrast to other sections of the county. Back in the day it was East Coast rap vs. West Coast rap. Even more back in the day it was North vs. South, blue vs. gray, Union vs. Confederacy, Yanks vs. Rebs. The whole country is together now in cheering on our American athletes in Athens. In the Olympics it is individual counties against each other, but then countries team up against other groups of countries. For example there is even the constant riff of "The West" vs. "The East". Oh, and if you saw "Independence Day" (and I know you have) you saw the whole planet come together to whop E.T.'s ass.

Growing up the kids on my street would always play touch football. Through the countless games we played we had all been both teammates and opponents of each and every other one in some point in the past, multiple times. For the duration of each individual game our supreme allegiance was to each other of our teammates, even though previously we had not only all been opponents with each other in sport, but we had even all gone to fist-fights with each other as well (in that we were always quick to forgive; the next day we’d need the other guy to make two even numbered teams). The most fun game I can recall was day when a bunch of unfamiliar kids from some unknown place stopped by our block and somehow it became a football game of all of them versus all the kids on my block, united. We all finally got to be teammates against a common "enemy".

We always classify ourselves. It's "I'm with 'us' and you're with 'them'", and that's all it takes for a bitter rivalry. I don't know the cause of this phenomenon. It could be the combination of humans as social animals and our underlying aggressiveness that adds up to this. I couldn't really say.

There are endless lines that we may draw, be it men and women, old and young, democrat and republican, and all the ethnicities, races, religions, etc. I wonder how much conflict has been caused simply by “I'm in this category and you're in that one”. In the Middle East, I don't think they're fighting simply because the other guy believes so and so and that offends me (at least not any more). I think it's now because he's one of 'them' and I'm one of 'us'. Look, at one point most of the people in the region were inter-competing tribes of people. People fought against others from different tribes. Now the tribes have united under a common religion, and they're fighting others from different religions. Former foes are now allies as conflict has simply shifted to new "lines". As long as the lines of distinction remain, well, distinct, and as long as interaction among the opposing sides is prevented or limited (interaction that would allow each side to see those on the other one are underneath it all kind, decent, and good people) I question whether there will ever be peace in the region.