Mike DomitrzPresident, Author, and Speaker on Respect, The Center for Respect, Inc. · Author & Speaker on Respect for Schools, Corporations, & the Military since 1990 (has reached

Stop seeing everything as US vs. THEM

1 Aug 2023 · 1 min

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1:00

In this segment of his YouTube talk, Mike Domitrz examines the pervasive ‘us versus them’ mentality in American culture, where people frame interactions as right‑versus‑wrong. He argues that this binary view fuels judgment rather than respect and highlights a common cultural belief that “respect is earned.” Domitrz contends that this belief creates a power game, forcing individuals to prove their worth before being treated as human beings. He points out that organizations already demonstrate value by hiring people, and therefore individuals should be treated as valued humans from the outset, not as subjects who must first earn respect.

Chapters

What's your observation in terms of like where we are culturally in the United States in particular? Yeah. So, here's the problem that occurs, especially in the us versus them. It's I'm right and you're wrong. And as long as we're doing that, you're probably not treating me with respect. You're treating me with judgment. And there's a huge difference in those 2 concepts. So, one of the biggest mistakes that we teach people to do in this world, and I don't mean we as in us, I mean the culture as a whole does this, unfortunately. We believe in the opposite of what I'm about to say, but you can fill in the blank here, Josh. Hey, respect is not given. Respect is earned. Horrible message. Yeah. Because the moment you say to somebody, you have to earn my respect, this is a power game. This is all a power game. I have to do something to be of value to you. And people get defensive about that. Well, they do have to do something. Why? They're a human being. And by the way, your organization hired them because they saw them as value. So you should be treating them as a valued human being.