A faceless enemy.
The one, usually, a he, different, unknown, dangerous in his distinctly distant desires and drives. He is always an -ist and a marginal. His habits are grim. His loved ones are an echo, an abstraction, often times innocent, but never completely human. He isn't undeniably human as well. What distinguishes him from his fellow humans?.. Well, it is always obscure, this distinction. He is never quite a monster, no, no, not at all. But there is something rather beastly about him. Is it his manner? The way he walks, either too rigidly or too loosely. Is it the slightest accent he possesses, or a lisp, or this peculiar way the side of his mouth moves?.. It is never clear what it is that sets him apart. He is never fully wrong, either. There is always a glimpse of reason within his words. The light of knowledge is not foreign to him. He may even be intelligent, even if in an unsettling way; even if his knowledge is too niche, too impractical. His habits are strange; his preferences are not abhorrent, yet they illicit if not straightforward disgust, but warrant at least a raised eyebrow. What is it, this alien creature, so eerily presenting itself as a fellow man? Oh, but he is the enemy. That explains it! He is a foreigner, an outcast, the other. You don’t have to dehumanize him; there is no need. He has never been and never will be, in your eyes, a human. He is a caricature of a human, a mere simulacrum; he cannot fathom the virtues of the free world, your world. He will never be equal to you, he did nothing to deserve it; he never fought for you land’s freedom, for your children’s innocence. Why is he, this fake man?.. Why is he allowed to enter, enter your peace, your life; who gave him permission to stir the waters of your serenity? Who let him have his thoughts, his wishes so foreign to any good man, any man of honor and decency? You despise the alien man. His contrived attempts at assimilating; his pathetic tries to understand the wisdom of your ancestors. Why shouldn’t you be hostile to the alien? He is another, he is not fully human, there is no way to find out if he is human, but you can tell. You can tell. By the look in his eyes, the cold, soulless, distant stare, by the awkward mannerisms, by the absence of true connections to others (this cloud family is but an illusion, abstraction, it might as well not exist). First, the alien pretends to assimilate. Next, he insults the memories that are near and dear to you by putting your precious words into his mouth. Then, he looks longingly at what is yours – your dwelling, your lawn, your dog, your daughter. Then, he dares to dream to claim his own! There is no peace with another. He has not come in peace; he has an agenda; he dares to touch what is yours; you know, you see, and you won’t let him.