You're either with us, or against us
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The statement You're either with us, or against us can sometimes be interpreted as a false dilemma, i.e. as a logical fallacy. It is commonly used in order to polarize situations and force the audience to either become allies or to accept the consequences as being deemed an enemy, so it may also be interpreted as a speech act. Some see the statement as a way of persuading others to choose sides in a conflict which does not afford the luxury of neutrality.
[edit] Use of the phrase
[edit] Historical quotations
- Jesus Christ, in Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23 of the New Testament of Christianity, is reported to have said, "He who is not with me is against me...";[1][2] however, in Mark 9:40 he says what seems to be the opposite: "...whoever is not against us is for us". [3]
- George Orwell wrote in his 1942 essay "Pacifism and the War" that "If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, ‘he that is not with me is against me’. The idea that you can somehow remain aloof from and superior to the struggle, while living on food which British sailors have to risk their lives to bring you, is a bourgeois illusion bred of money and security."
- Hillary Clinton said on September 13, 2001: "Every nation has to either be with us, or against us. Those who harbor terrorists, or who finance them, are going to pay a price." [4]
- President George W. Bush, in an address to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001[5] said, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
- President George W. Bush said in a November 6, 2001 news conference, less than 2 months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, "You are either with us or you are against us in the fight against terror."
- On February 28, 2006, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels stated, "You're either for this bill or you're against our future," when referring to his Major Moves bill to sell the operating rights of the Indiana Toll Road (I-80/I-90) to a Spanish/Australian Consortium. [6]
[edit] In literature and fiction
- In the Dirty Harry movie, Magnum Force, one of the suspects, tells Harry Callahan, "Either you're for us or you're against us."
- In the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker says to Obi-Wan Kenobi, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy", to which Obi-Wan replies: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."
- Towards the end of Joseph Heller's Catch 22, Colonels Korn and Cathcart equate fighting for their country with fighting for the benefit of the two of them. Korn tells the protagonist Yossarian: "You're either for us or against your country. It's as simple as that."
- In the movie Ben-Hur, the protagonist meets with his childhood friend Messala. He has barely said hello to Ben-Hur when he is dunning him for the names of those Jews who are speaking out against the Roman occupation. Ben-Hur refuses to act as informer, and Messala utters that famous phrase: "You're either with me or against me".
- In Act III of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Deputy Governor John Danforth states, "But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road between."
