STOP SAYING "WE" — An Anarchist's Rant
When most people talk about the actions of their government, military, or countrymen, they have this annoying habit of using the word "we".
We used to own slaves.
We fought the British for our freedom.
We saved Europe in WWII.
We're at war in the Middle East.
We should pass this or that law.
We're gonna make it to the playoffs this year!
That last one is a joke, but while I'm on the subject, I have been thinking about making a post about statism and sports... back to the matter at hand:
No. No. NO!
We didn't do anything. THERE IS NO "WE"!
I didn't own slaves.
I never fought the British.
I didn't "save Europe" in WWII.
I'm not at war with anyone.
I don't pass any laws (I wouldn't, and I couldn't even if I wanted to!)
I didn't do any of these things.
I am not my government. I am not my country. I want no association with either of these entities. Why anyone would want to lump themselves together with these power-hungry, immoral, thieving, murderous war-mongers is beyond me.
But even if for some reason you like your government, there is still no "WE". They act with or without you. They care nothing for us lowly individuals.
So stop saying "we"
There is no "we"
RANT OVER.
~Seth
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God, that annoys me so much as well. And it's even worse when someone says we, but refers to the government.
And then they come up with some government 'solution'.
It's seriously one of my biggest pet peeves.
I live in a country that in the recent economic crisis this word "WE", was the begining of every phrase that hardly used by the politicians and hardly promoted by the media. NO "I didn't do any of these things" They did everything and destroyed the country. My/our fault possibly was that we did not do anything to stop them.
The annoying inclusive "we". Meant as a psychological means of supporting collectivism. It's kind of like the school bully saying "if you are not with us then you are against us".
Looking forward to that post on statism and sports because I still have a love/hate relationship with team sports.
It's something I've been thinking about for a long time. I just need to get around to actually writing it!
Wow, you took words from my mouth! I'm always angry when people say we, even for action from a war but never been there, ridiculous
I'm glad I'm not alone. This bothers me so much.
Perfect gif lol
This is how they tend to hide their own earlier faults...by saying the word "we".
Lol, I agree with the sentiment 100%. And, with many things, I have a dichotomous opinion on this matter.
When I say "We", I mean as a collective (usually Humanity). Now, don't misinterpret what I am about to write, please. I am not saying everyone should do what I do, nor that nobody else does, but I try to be mindful of my words. When you extricate yourself from the lump of humanity, most people tend to think you an elitist snob, and not worth bothering with.
The other aspect that motivates my choice of words is the fact that, WE are a collective. Just as our body's are literally trillions of cells functioning in a cooperative manner for the advancement of the whole body, so too should we use our bodies and realize we are but one cell in the planetary body of our species. I hope that doesn't sound too "New Age-y", but if you look from the smallest to the largest, no one part stands out on it's own. Protons, Neutrons electrons, to atoms, to cells to bodies, to planets, to solar systems, and beyond (with a great many steps overlooked in between.).
And then, the most important "We". WE, the individuals who are constantly cajoled and cowed by the "leaders" whom we tell ourselves we need. They are actually, factually, provably criminals who violate many of the laws authored under their "authority".
So I try to frame everything as a "We". That's my rant. :)
Man this is such a tough one for me. While I definitely agree with the perspective that as citizens our tax dollars are stolen without our consent, and the atrocities carried out by our military and other government agencies are also done without our consent. I also can't help but feel at least partially responsible for the crimes of the US government because of my tax contribution. To some extent I think we are all passively consenting to our government's actions every day that we go in to work, knowing that the income is taxed and that those tax dollars are used for imperialistic warfare.
I actually think making people more aware of their culpability in the US's war crimes, would do a lot to break down statism. If people could understand that the government is forcing us to commit atrocities with our tax dollars, they might start to see government for the horrific uncontrollable beast that it really is.