Who are "they"

I was fussing about something one day -- don't remember about what because I fuss so much -- and whoever the poor victim was who had to listen to my ravings interrupted with a question.

"Who are 'they'?"

You know how it goes. You're upset so you start nattering about how they did this, and they did that, but you don't ever indicate who "they" are. My listener wanted to know specifics. If my rant was the usual kind of fussing, I probably had no specific individuals in mind, and the whole concept worked better if I didn't become specific.

As long as my oppressors, or villains, or whatever were some nebulous "they," I could be as indignant as I wanted and also put myself in the position of powerless victim.

Though the phenomenon probably goes back to the beginnings of human consciousness, I've been unusually aware of how we use nonspecifc groups to feed our rhetoric these days.

One favorite group of long standing is, of course, the Liberal Media, often referred to as the Mainstream Media. The Media are responsible for an enormous number of our current woes, and we all apparently know exact who "they" are.

Except we don't. The New York Times is one favorite whipping boy, but some of its writers go off on their own tangents and produce articles that agree with a particular complainer's point of view. When that happens, The NYT may be freely quoted without the Liberal or Mainstream tag.

A current favorite is the Government. Whatever the Liberal Media aren't busy ruining in our society, the Government is. The Government is this evil, wasteful, horrible entity whose only purpose seems to be to make life miserable. Until, of course, we have some problem we want solved.

Amorphic groups can work on the other side of an issue as well.

The Founding Fathers are often invoked in support of a number of causes. Whatever you want to see happening in society can be backed by bringing them up.

The Founding Fathers wanted America to be a Christian nation. No, The Founding Fathers wanted America to be a haven for religious liberty. But what Founding Fathers are we talking about? Who are they?

Every election cycle brings up another amazing group: The American People, who always "have spoken." The only problem with that is that apparently I cease to be part of The American People about every other election or so.

Just think about all the groups that have so much influence. The Man wants to keep you down. The Religious Right wants to us to live in a theocracy. The Liberals want to create a socialist society. The list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, I find that the actual uselessness of using these nonspecific groups as support for whatever side I'm taking hasn't stopped me from invoking them. Apparently I prefer the easy argument to serious discussion and specifics.

One of my own favorite groups was Readers, as in newspaper readers who might have actually read an article of mine in the paper or magazine we produced. I have to admit I miss them as both scapegoats and supporters.

I'm in search of a new, amorphous group. Sure hope I find one soon because when I do, they're going to have some explaining to do and some causes to promote.