Tribalism and American Decay

Tribalism: the classic paradigm of Us versus Them. My group versus your group. My clan versus your clan. Everyone within this circle is good; everyone outside this circle is bad. Everyone in this society is fully human; everyone outside this society is less than. All the people I identify with are to be respected and honored; all those we deem “other” are to be used and disregarded. This group mentality has been the beginning point for human conflict going back to the stone ages. From political polarization to racial discrimination, police shootings, gang violence, and terrorism the tribal “us-versus-them” mindset plays a key role in many of today's most horrific events.

But is tribalism all bad? And to what extent are tribalism and its negative effects escapable?

Irish proto-conservative Edmund Burke said that our attachment to our local people and traditions forms the foundation from which we develop love for greater circles of people: “To be attached to the subdivision, to love the little platoon we belong to in society, is the first principle (the germ as it were) of public affections. It is the first link in the series by which we proceed towards a love to our country and to mankind.” Mythologist Joseph Campbell said of the mythic individual's relation to his tribe, “From his group he has derived his techniques of life, the language in which he thinks, the ideas on which he thrives; through the past of that society descended the genes that built his body. If he presumes to cut himself off, either in deed or in thought and feeling, he only breaks connection with the sources of his existence.” According to Campbell and Burke, our “tribal” identification forms an important part of who we are as people, and how we see ourselves.

Some tribalism may be unavoidable. Anthropologists say that early humans evolved the ability to act together in coordinated groups, and this in turn aided them in foraging, hunting, and defense. Humans are social animals; we are almost always stronger (and happier) in groups than as individuals, and the ability to coordinate our efforts is one trait that separates us from other primates. There may be a limit to our ability to form social bonds, however. A study by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar found a correlation between primate brain size and the size of their average social group. He theorized that the size of the neocortex determined the limit of stable personal relationships that can be formed; using the ratio he gleaned from studying the primates, he estimated the human limit to be about 150 relationships. Other scientists have placed the number at closer to 300, but the takeaway remains the same: Our ability to form relationships is somewhat limited. (How many Facebook friends do you have? How many of them do you actually talk to regularly?)

This limited cognitive ability suggests that, once we reach our limit of friendships, our brains which are hard-wired by evolution to constantly and subconsciously determine the threat level of any given situation are stuck with limited processing power to size up the new people we meet, and thus fall back on stereotypes and generalizations to make those evaluations. Cops who have dealt often with black criminals (or who grew up listening to gangsta rap) are more likely to view black men as having criminal intent; black men who have been hassled or mistreated by white cops are more likely to view all white cops as having malicious intent. Thus we create our own reality, our minds our own worst enemies, our own prejudices becoming real in a never-ending cycle of fear and misunderstanding. “Our thoughts create the world. As we think, so we are.”

Not only that, but the breakdown of traditional cultural norms of family and community just accelerate the process. We no longer live in the same communities our grandparents grew up in. We often don't live in the same communities our parents grew up in. We move more, we commute longer, we work longer hours, and when we're at home we sit in front of the television or surf the internet on our phones. Our online lives are becoming our reality; it's our physical lives that are becoming exotic and anxiety-inducing. (I'll stop myself here before I delve into further banalities about how “technology is making us more alienated while connecting us as never before!” You get the point.) “Neotribalism” is the sociological concept which says that since we've evolved to function in tribes, we will look for new, modern “tribes” (political parties, gaming, sports, or pretty much any other subculture) to take the place of the old social networks.

What's more alarming, however, is that evidence in the new field of Cultural Cognition suggests that people are more likely to agree with statements that mirror the values of the groups they identify with most strongly, and that, “individuals selectively credit or dismiss information in a manner that reinforces beliefs congenial to their values.” In other words, we define speakers on a given topic as “experts” in accordance with how much they agree with our core values. Not only that, but research has also shown that people have a tendency to “circle the wagons,” that is, to become more close-minded and more fiercely defensive of their views, the more they perceive that their values are under attack. So, not only are people splitting off into more and more disconnected subcultures to replace their traditional communities, but the views of these communities are self-reinforcing. This leads to the “echo-chamber” quality of social media, where those with opposing views are often blocked, unfriended, or ridiculed, and to the increasing polarization of national (and global) politics. And one need look no further than the recent Brexit vote to see that top-down enforcement of cultural norms will eventually be met with resistance and refusal, especially in times of cultural stress and upheaval.

Thus we end up with a President who uses a memorial service for fallen police officers to lecture us about how racist cops (and the rest of us) are and refers to his political agenda as “American values,” as if anyone with a different opinion couldn't possibly be a real American. We end up with a Presidential candidate who threatens reprisals against journalists who are critical of him, gleefully panders to racists, and refers to his opponents as “losers.” (And make no mistake: the divisiveness of Trump and the coalition of “tribes” he has cobbled together is nothing more or less than the inevitable reaction to and mirror image of the divisiveness of Obama and the coalition of “tribes” that he used to gain the White House. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.)

We end up with a nation that is divided along every conceivable boundary; we end up with political discourse that basically amounts to two groups of people standing on either side of a brick wall and screaming at each other with megaphones.

“If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”

So what's the answer?

For one thing, I think we ask too much of our police officers. We expect cops to be guidance counselors, role models, psychotherapists, and community outreach specialists when it suits us, and yet to also be Dirty Harry combined with Walker Texas Ranger when we want the “trash” taken out. On top of that, we expect them to know more laws than a law school student could learn in five years, and to be experts in their enforcement! It's too much. We need fewer laws for one thing, not more. We could start by ending the Drug War, which robs taxpayers of billions of dollars while also stealing our civil liberties (but that's for another post). We should also make sure that police departments are funded well enough that they don't depend on the writing of tickets to pay the bills, a system which often makes them appear more predatory than helpful and increases the ill will of the public they protect.

Secondly, we as individuals have to take the initiative to stop walling ourselves off from people and viewpoints that we find upsetting. (I'm not even going to get into the heinous institution of “safe-spaces” and political correctness on campuses here.) We have to meet other people from other walks of life, and “walk a mile in their moccasins” as the old Indian saying tells us. We have to expand our minds and our horizons instead of narrowing them.

Thirdly, we have to find ways to strengthen the traditional bonds that hold human societies together. Talk to your parents. Talk to your kids. Don't let television or cellphone screens come between you and your loved ones. Don't let TV raise your children. Take the time to learn from the older generation and teach the younger. We have to get out of our comfort zones and off our couches and go out into the world and reach out to other human beings. We have to get involved in each others' lives.

The idea of our local in-group as stepping stone to identifying ourselves as members of humanity was eloquently expressed by Lakota Sioux medicine man Black Elk. When he was nine years old, Black Elk fell extremely ill, and was unresponsive for several days. During that time, he had a vision of being taken by his tribe's guiding spirits to the mountain at the center of the world; as he later recounted to ethnographer John Niehardt:
“While I stood there I saw more than I can tell and understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.” Black Elk understood that it is through our local “tribes” that we learn to empathize and identify with other human beings, and thus learn our place as members of the human tribe.

Lastly, and most importantly, we need to heed the teachings of the one who gave us that famous warning about the fate of divided kingdoms: Yeshua the Nazarene. Shortly after speaking those words, the Messiah was told that his mother and brothers were looking for him. "And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." Before his crucifixion, he told his disciples, "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." Paul would later tell the Ephesians to "walk in love, as Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself for us..." What greater love can there be than to sacrifice oneself for another? This is the love that the world struggles to understand: the love which, rather than seeking to gain for oneself, is willing to lose everything for the sake of someone else. 

We exhibit the love of Christ when we put God and others before ourselves; when we recognize the great love of God for ALL people, the fact that all people are His children, and the fact that we serve HIM by serving THEM. "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

In this essay I have spoken of evolution. Far from being contradictory, it is my belief that it is precisely BECAUSE of our animal nature that we NEED the Love of Christ to perfect us. It is only by opening our hearts to Christ's love, relinquishing our infantile and selfish egos, and placing the things of God above the things of this world, that we can be elevated above the level of beasts; that we can cease the Hobbesian "war of all against all," and learn to live together in harmony. And if you don't believe me, I'll leave you with the words of another famous American with "Black" in his name, which I think are just as relevant now as when they were written:

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,

Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black