One of us is the expression that seems inclusion yet establishes borders. Governments say it, gangs say it, businesses say it. You either belong or are banished, insider or outsider, one of us or they are.
One of us wants conformity masquerading as community. Hate our enemies, match our values, share our aesthetic, laugh at our jokes. Assimilation disguised as acceptance. You can join, but first become more like us, less like yourself.
Cults become experts in this dialect. They say you are one of us now, cutting your outside ties and reinterpreting family as anyone who lives in the complex. Belonging became control system weaponized.
Still, people want being one among tribes, teams, motions. Social beings hungry for membership, we are ready to change ourselves for that amazing sense of acceptance. The group validates your presence, therefore one of us means you count, you are seen, you have value.