Hello there! 🙂 

I hope you are having a lovely week!

In our ASTU 100 class we have been analyzing and discussing Judith Butler’s, a philosopher’s,  first chapter of Frames of War: When is Life Grievable? The more I read the article, the more interesting I found her arguments and questions as I was able to understand better. For today’s blog, I would like to focus on “us” vs “them”. 

Judith Butler questions who is a part of us and of them, who are we responsible for? This got me thinking of who we identity ourselves with and how we differentiate ourselves. Do people differentiate themselves based on personal values, beliefs, culture, gender or looks. The idea of choosing of whom is a part of ‘us’ and who is identified as ‘them’ made me feel uncomfortable as it sounds like we are valuing some over others. The idea of not including someone just doesn’t sit well with me. It is unavoidable in someways as we naturally value family, for example, in some ways more than strangers. This brings me to Butler’s point that “[we] are responsible only for those who are recognizably like [us] in some way”(36). The first time I read this, it made me feel uncomfortable as I thought: What about the others? But the second time I read it, I was able recognize and acknowledge that I do feel responsible for my family over strangers, for example.
This leads me to another question raised by Butler: “Whose lives are regarded as lives worth saving and defending, and whose are not?” (38). Who and how is one to decide one person’s value over another’s? And how do we decide who we go to war with? There always seems to be sides. Not just in situations of war but even in our daily lives; many people seem to feel the need to pick sides. The “us” vs “them” almost seems unavoidable is some situations. 

On a brighter note, I am glad how Butler discussed the idea that all bodies are vulnerable to each other as it is important to recognize that we are all human and have similar vulnerabilities. We can not undo what some have done but we can acknowledge some of the terrible things in the past and move forward. By doing so, we can possibly unite together by being able to look past our differences and understanding each other.

Thank you for reading! Take care and good luck on your midterms! 🙂