"All the people like us are we, and everyone else is They"

Rudyard Kipling’s statement, “All the people like us are we, and everyone else is They,” exposes the instinct to divide the world into ‘us’ versus ‘them’. At its core, it reveals how identity and belonging are strongly shaped by similarities and how easily people draw boundaries based on familiar traits, backgrounds, or beliefs. Those who share our customs, language, appearance, or attitudes are assimilated into the comforting circle of ‘we’, forming a collective that feels safe, unified, and inherently right. Conversely, those who fall outside this circle, those whose habits, cultures, or ideas diverge from our own, are designated as ‘they’, the others.

This distinction feeds into a natural but dangerous human tendency: tribalism. The creation of ‘we’ and ‘they’ groups fosters solidarity and loyalty, but also sows the seeds of misunderstanding, suspicion, and sometimes outright hostility. By drawing the line between ‘us’ and ‘them’, people not only set themselves apart but often elevate their own group, sometimes implicitly or explicitly considering it superior. This attitude can justify prejudice, exclusion, or even conflict, as those branded ‘they’ become strangers whose motives and values may be viewed with skepticism.

Kipling captures both the universality and the arbitrariness of these divisions. The phrase applies to every group, regardless of how lines are drawn: religion, nationality, race, class, ideology, or even less tangible qualities. What one group considers normal or right, another might view as odd or wrong, yet every group applies the same mental process of inclusion and exclusion. The statement prompts reflection on the constructed and subjective nature of these boundaries, hinting at both their power and their fragility. Ultimately, Kipling’s words serve both as a commentary on human nature and a caution about the consequences of failing to recognize the common humanity that lies beneath the differences between ‘we’ and ‘they’.