Why Are People Stuck on an Us Vs. Them Mentality?

Like a lot of my posts, this started out as a reply to a comment asking the above question. As my proposed explanation got more lengthy, I realized that my impassioned response would make for a good Steemit post instead, and so I brought it over here. I hope this is helpful to someone out there.

People are stuck in the "us vs. them" mentality because there is this idea that persists into modern times that it's okay to dictate what a person should do with their own body and property "for their own good" or for "the greater good". The tool most often used to implement this coercion is state power. This takes root in the minds of people who then see the threat to their own lifestyle choices, and so in self-defense, they try vehemently to wrest control of the state apparatus to impose their own preferences on the rest of society.

If we can move our society toward one that has a lower acceptance of coercion "for your own good" or "for the greater good," then people will be free to move away from the win-lose scenario that they're forced to face currently. Then we can begin to build a society that's built on win-win solutions that don't involve coercion. We need to allow people to freely make decisions that effect only them and what they own, and only intervene forcefully when coerce or aggress against others.

As it sits currently, you can't even drive down the road without police officers wagging their fingers at you for failing to stop completely at a stop sign that no one else is at, or failing to signal when no other driver is in sight. These small but persistent and constant intrusions will have to stop before most people will be able to see the larger ones and move on from this combative and tribal worldview. We need to somehow strip this veil from people's eyes.