The Politics of Friendship

During the lecture there were a few things that stood out to me. when Professor Borck had said that by naming ones enemy it says something about the self and that one begins to feel a kinship with the enemy. This made me think of Before Sunrise  when Jessie says that the reason many people dislike themselves  is because they never have a moment outside of themselves. I think these two ideas connect Because  our enemy's are often the personifications of what we do not like about ourselves. maybe that a bit radical, but I have always thought that in order to hate someone you have had to trusted and perhaps loved them first. its  like seeing someone become the very thing you fear the most of becoming yourself. I think this is why these people bother us so much because we see so much of ourselves in them and the possibilities of all the bad things we can become.  I wouldn't say these ideas connect to politics entirely, because it involves a group of people with different perceptions and experiences with the enemy, but the ideas of Derrida and Schmitt resonate on personal level in some ways. Professor Borck also presented an idea that " I think therefor I am... the other" this idea relates to the idea that we all effect each other in someway and in friendship we see the good in ourselves and the good in others, our thoughts become intertwined.