We tend to think of “otherness” – the discriminatory root cause of so much current global rancor – as something that’s imposed on, well, others.

Wagon-circling may feel like a defense from that. But isn’t that just becoming an “other” yourself?

There seems already to be some pulling back from Thursday’s ballpark bipartisanship. You’d need to go back to the Civil War, one political scientist told The New York Times, to find more animus in this country than we see today. A lot of it is finger-jabbing. But some of it is just smugly “knowing better” and turning away. Retreating into our micro-collectives.

Recent weeks have brought all kinds of group statements of separateness. The reasons often seem defensible. But should subgroups (of any makeup) hold walled-off graduation ceremonies? Should subgroups (of any makeup) pursue exclusive screenings of films?

Globally, it’s not just about the obvious – and often violent – kind of cultural exclusion. It can be quieter. In Egypt, for example, parliamentarians are preparing to discuss a law that would prohibit parents from giving newborns Western names. 

What are the costs, to us all, of any group turning inward?

Now, let’s go to our five stories for today.