every People call themselves “the People”
we are the People they say and can’t believe they
call themselves “the People” too, instead of something
more descriptively true, like the primitives or the savages.
the Language of the People lacked the word for
people-who-are-not-people-as-much-as-we-are-people
until a foreign word meaning in its foreign tongue
“the People” was adopted for that purpose.
it is said that they, too, have adopted our expression
“the People” to signify savagery and strangeness
so that the conversation when we meet
objectively might read
we: Who are you?
we: We are the People. Who are you?
we: We are the People.
we: We are proud to be the People knowing you People exist.
we: Knowledge of People such as you confirms the greatness of the People.
we: We will subjugate you People by force.
we: That is why we must destroy you People.
or,
the Savages: Who are you?
the Savages: We are the Savages. Who are you?
the Savages: We are the Savages.
the Savages: We are proud to be the Savages knowing you Savages exist.
the Savages: Knowledge of Savages such as you confirms the greatness of the Savages.
the Savages: We will subjugate you Savages by force.
the Savages: That is why we must destroy you Savages.
over generations all the People have learned to attack
before these terrible misunderstandings have a chance
to happen, developing weapons to kill the Savages from further
away than the People’s voices can be heard, and Children
are taught they are either with the People or against the People,
and how to activate the computers, but very few of them can read.