Who is it when Thou and I play tag?

[Guest guest]

>

[snipped unfairly]

> He ( Buber) indicates that it is only when we see the other as a thou,

not an it( no matter whom) that this lifting/helping of other can occur.

But how can one ever see the other as an it? Even automobiles are called he and

she and given names. We treat our pets like children. Is it distance? Quantity?

(There are supposedly 26-plus people living in Mexico City. Every one has a

story and a name.)

Do you recall Desdemona's cry for the despised Shylock? " If you prick us, do we

not bleed? "

> [snip] In the longer passage, p. 15 (for anyone interested) he indicates that

this perception of other as thou is not always possible, but when we can move

into this zone, we connect and can be of potential help to others and they to

us.

I do not understand how lack of thou degrades to it, by default. Could we see

the foreign, even the enemy at war with us, as fully human? If not, what is

wrong with our meaning for human.

Obviously to see the " not fully thou " as utterly human brings up a host of

discomforts. We might need to change our ways.

Jane Axtell