You're either with us, or against us

In political communication, the phrase "you're either with us, or against us" and similar variations are used to depict situations as being polarized and to force witnesses, bystanders, or others unaligned with some form of pre-existing conflict to either become allies of the speaking party or lose favor. The implied consequence of not joining the team effort is to be deemed an enemy. An example is the statement of the former US President George W. Bush, who said after 9/11 at the launch of his anti-terrorism campaign in the form "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."[1]

Background

The statement generally is a descriptive statement identifying the beliefs of the speaker(s), and thus state a basic assumption, not a logical conclusion. It may also be interpreted as a speech act. Sometimes (but not always) it is interpreted as a splitting or a false dilemma, which is an informal fallacy.[2]

Some see the statement as a way of persuading others to choose sides in a conflict which does not allow the position of neutrality.[3] Only when there are no alternatives like a middle ground does the phrase hold validity as a logical conclusion. The phrases are a form of argumentation.[4]

Use of the phrase

Historical quotations
  • From the Book of Joshua (Chap. 5:13): "It happened, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him, and said to him, 'Are you for us, or for our adversaries?'"
  • The Synoptic Gospels attribute the following quote to Jesus: "Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters" (Matthew 12:30), as well as the corresponding statement, "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Luke 9:50; Mark 9:40).[5]
  • Siege of Melos In History of the Peloponnesian War (Book 5, Chapters 84–116), the contemporary Athenian historian Thucydides included a dramatization of the negotiations between the Athenian emissaries and the rulers of Melos.The Athenians offer the Melians an ultimatum: surrender and pay tribute to Athens, or be destroyed. The Athenians do not wish to waste time arguing over the morality of the situation, because in practice might makes right—or, in their own words, "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must".[29]

The Melians argue that they are a neutral city and not an enemy, so Athens has no need to conquer them. The Athenians counter that if they accept Melos' neutrality and independence, they would look weak: Their subjects would think that they left Melos alone because they were not strong enough to conquer it.

  • Marcus Tullius Cicero, in an oration before Julius Caesar in 46 BCE, published as Pro Ligario, made the following distinction: "For we heard you say that we looked upon all as enemies that were not with us; but that you looked upon all as friends that were not against you."[6]
  • Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, in a speech discussing the Chief Committee for Political Education, told the assembled delegates that "It is with absolute frankness that we speak of this struggle of the proletariat; each man must choose between joining our side or the other side. Any attempt to avoid taking sides in this issue must end in fiasco."[7]
  • George Orwell wrote in his 1942 essay "Pacifism and the War", "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."
  • Benito Mussolini declared in speeches across fascist Italy: "O con noi o contro di noi"—You're either with us or against us.[8]
  • János Kádár, in an effort to unite Hungary after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, announced in December 1961, "those who are not against us are with us."[9][10]
  • Desmond Tutu as quoted in a book published in 1984 said, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."[11]
  • Hillary Clinton said on 13 September 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."[12]
  • President George W. Bush, in an address to a joint session of Congress on 20 September 2001 said, "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."[13]
  • Vic Toews, Canadian Public Safety Minister, said on 13 February 2012: "... either stand with us or with the child pornographers" in response to questions from Quebec MP Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis) regarding extensive Privacy Commission concerns about 'warrant-less access' to all Canadian Internet and Cell phone accounts under the proposed legislation contained in bill C-30 "Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act" introduced the following day (14 February 2012) in the House of Commons of Canada.[14][15][16]
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a speech after a suicide bomb explosion in Istanbul on 12 January 2016, said: "Pick a side. You are either on the side of the Turkish government, or you're on the side of the terrorists."[17]
  • Sarah Palin, in a speech criticizing Republicans who didn't support Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, said: "You're either with us or you're against us. That gang, they call themselves Never hashtag, whatever, I just call 'em Republicans Against Trump, or RAT for short..."[18]
  • Pennsylvania House Rep. Jordan A. Harris, on 21 June 2020, said, "[R]acism is not a gray area for me. You are either with us or against us."[19]
  • In the movie Beauty and the Beast, Gaston tells fellow citizens of his village that "If you're not with us, you're against us," and thereafter locks up Belle and her father so he can hunt the Beast.
  • 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 climax of the film Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader) says to Obi-Wan Kenobi, "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy." Obi-Wan responds, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." His response is an absolute statement, although linguists are divided as to whether the "deals" part of the phrase makes this not a contradictory statement. Anakin's line has been described as a critique of George W. Bush's statement at the launch of his anti-terrorism campaign after 9/11.
  • 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." A reviewer of Catch-22 found this "flawless" logical indulgence by the commanding colonels to be comparable to Heller's parody of Charles Erwin Wilson's statement, often paraphrased as, "What's good for General Motors is good for the country".[20]
  • In a 1912 edition of John Bull's Other Island by George Bernard Shaw, an advertisement for The Clarion, a socialist newspaper, used the phrase to attract those interested in the debate on socialism.
  • 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, "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."
  • A professional wrestling faction in WWE, called The Nexus, used the slogan "You're either Nexus, or you're against us".
  • Stephen Colbert has parodied the sentence on several occasions, for instance with "Either you are for the war [in Iraq] or you hate America" and "George W. Bush: great president or the greatest president?", after which he usually adds "It's that simple!"[21]
  • In the Smallville episode "Shattered", Lex Luthor tells Clark Kent, "You're either with me or against me, Clark. Choose right now."
  • In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 TV series episode "The Shredder Strikes, Part One" The Shredder tells the Turtles "Those who are not with me are against me, and I crush anyone who stands against me!" right before facing them for the first time.
  • In the film X-Men: First Class, Dr. Klaus Schmidt / Sebastian Shaw tells the X-Men, "If you are not with us, then by definition, you are against us."
  • Russell Hantz frequently uses a variation of the line, "You're either with me or against me," as an intimidation tactic towards his competition and fellow allies in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, the twentieth edition of the show. Sandra Diaz-Twine bluntly replies, "I'm against you, Russell."

See also

References
  1. Bush: 'You Are Either With Us, Or With the Terrorists' – 2001-09-21, Voice of America via Internet Archive - archived URL at VOA News
  2. "Your logical fallacy is black or white".
  3. Orwell, George (1968). George Orwell: The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters Volume 2 – My Country left or right. p. 226.
  4. Schiappa, Edward (1995). Warranting Assent: Case Studies in Argument Evaluation. State University of New York. p. 25. ISBN 0-7914-2363-8.
  5. New Revised Standard Version
  6. Pro Ligario 11 (33), translation from Cicero, Marcus Tullius; Duncan, William (1811). Cicero's Select Orations, Translated Into English. Sidney's Press.
  7. Speech Delivered at an All-Russia Conference Of Political Education Workers Of Gubernia and Uyezd Education Departments 3 November 1920
  8. "Italo Balbo, il manager delle trasvolate". Il Giornale. 18 November 2010.
  9. "Moscow's Satellites—In and Out of Orbit; Change and growing diversity, an observer finds, mark the Eastern European bloc today". The New York Times. 15 March 1964.
  10. "LECTURE NOTES 18B.HUNGARY, CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND EAST GERMANY, 1968–1980. THE BALKANS, 1948–1980". Anna M. Cienciala. 1 November 2009.
  11. Brown, Robert McAfee (1984). Unexpected News : Reading the Bible with Third World Eyes. ISBN 978-0664245528.
  12. FreedomAgenda.com Quotes and Facts on Iraq
  13. WhiteHouse.gov Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People.
  14. Hansard, No. 79 of the 41st Parliament (1st Session) of Canada
  15. Canadian Broadcasting Corp – surveillance critics siding with child porn: Toews
  16. Bill C30
  17. Weaver, Matthew; Yuhas, Alan; Shaheen, Kareem; Abdul-Ahad, Ghaith; Letsch, Constanze (12 January 2016). "Istanbul blast: nine of the 10 killed were German, reports claim – as it happened". The Guardian.
  18. "Palin rips Never Trump Republicans: 'You are either with us or against us'". Politico. 1 July 2016.
  19. Ao, Allison Steele, Anna Orso, Laura McCrystal, Bethany. "Whole Foods employees demand right to show support for Black Lives Matter; Philly Queer March attracts hundreds; fathers honor George Floyd and other men". inquirer.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  20. H. Bruce Franklin (1988). War Stars: The Superweapon and the American Imagination. Oxford University Press. pp. 124–5. ISBN 0-19-506692-8.
  21. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong; Robert J. Fogelin (2009). Understanding Arguments: An Introduction to Informal Logic (8th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 391. ISBN 978-0-495-60395-5.

Further reading
  • Ajami, Fouad. "With Us or Against Us," New York Times Book Review 156.53817 (1/7/2007): 14–15.
  • Bethune, Brian. "Are You With Us or Against Us?" in Maclean's 119.45 (13 November 2006): 21.
  • "For us, or against us?" in Economist 376.8444 (17 September 2005): 44.
  • Seymour, Richard. "With us or against us—Iran talks tough," Middle East 364 (Feb 2006): 18–19.
  • Singh, Anita Inder. "With Us or Against Us," World Today 61.8/9 (Aug/Sep 2005): 25.
  • "With us or against us," Economist 385.8555 (17 November 2007): 42.
  • "You're Either With Us or Against Us," Maclean's 121.6 (3/10/2008): 23–29.
  • Bially Mattern, Janice. "Why Soft Power Isn't So Soft: Representational Force and the Sociolinguistic Construction of Attraction in World Politics." Millennium-Journal of International Studies 33, no. 3 (2005): 583–612.
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