Is Having Enemies Good?
Nassim Taleb writes, “I never trust a man who doesn’t have enemies.”
Presumably, because a person who is reviled clearly stands for something. One can only be loyal to someone or something to the extent that one excludes, marginalizes, selects—and thus, draws ire, envy, hostility. A person beloved by all is a shapeshifter, lacking definition.
Yet if Taleb is right that trust is a function of tribalism, then a world in which everyone is formally equal and basically friendly would also be one in which trust is low (and coordination near impossible).
The question then becomes how much trust would you sacrifice for a world without enmity. Conversely, how much enmity will allow to ensure that you can correctly distinguish between loyal friends and merely transactional relationships?
How would you fill in the sentence “I never trust a person who doesn’t _______”?
We all have enemies, even enemies we don't know. Knowing this the best you manage your own self-steem would mark the way for this enemies to become less a bad influence for you. But I recommend to have the less contact with a known enemy as possible.