Post by robeiae on Feb 10, 2019 13:03:02 GMT -5
Note: I'm using tribe/tribal/tribalism in a very broad sense, to reference a variety of potential affiliations people might have, from "the human race" on down to "immediate family."
So, Cass' comment in the NGD thread--about how future generations will blame the current generation for failure to act, when it comes to climate change, spurred on this thread, though it's a topic that I often think about, one way or another.
And that topic, simply put, is tribes. Most everyone claims membership in one tribe or another. Many see themselves as members of many tribes. There's immediate family and extended family (which, itself, has many, many levels), of course, wherein membership is a function of relation. But there's also race and/or ethnicity. Then there are the tribes based on location, like nationality, regional groups, and even local community (I, for instance, might consider myself and American, a Floridian, and a Miamian). Some regional groups even encompass multiple nationalities, like European. There are also tribes that are a function of age, both general and specific, like "the young," "the old," baby-boomers, millennials, "our" generation, future generations, and so on.
One might not that all of these designations are--at their root--simply descriptors and that they need be nothing more than that. But that's not how they are used by many, many (I would say more than most) people. While they use these groups to define themselves, they also use them to define others, and--most significantly for this discussion--they use them as a basis for assumed responsibility, again for both themselves and others.
This plays out in a variety of ways, some of which can lead to very bad places. Consider, for instance, the issue of nationality. Obviously, such tribalism is the basis of nationalism, where in it is assumed that people can not only work to help their country but they even have a duty to do such. And that sentiment right there is what I'm getting at, because one can simply change "country" to any other sort of tribal designation and there are people who would immediately agree, without a second thought.
Of course, everyone has different views regarding the importance of one's various "tribes." For instance, what is more important, duty to one's race or to one's country? To one's family or to the human race overall?
This is just a beginning, so feel free to chime in. I'll be adding more, later.
So, Cass' comment in the NGD thread--about how future generations will blame the current generation for failure to act, when it comes to climate change, spurred on this thread, though it's a topic that I often think about, one way or another.
And that topic, simply put, is tribes. Most everyone claims membership in one tribe or another. Many see themselves as members of many tribes. There's immediate family and extended family (which, itself, has many, many levels), of course, wherein membership is a function of relation. But there's also race and/or ethnicity. Then there are the tribes based on location, like nationality, regional groups, and even local community (I, for instance, might consider myself and American, a Floridian, and a Miamian). Some regional groups even encompass multiple nationalities, like European. There are also tribes that are a function of age, both general and specific, like "the young," "the old," baby-boomers, millennials, "our" generation, future generations, and so on.
One might not that all of these designations are--at their root--simply descriptors and that they need be nothing more than that. But that's not how they are used by many, many (I would say more than most) people. While they use these groups to define themselves, they also use them to define others, and--most significantly for this discussion--they use them as a basis for assumed responsibility, again for both themselves and others.
This plays out in a variety of ways, some of which can lead to very bad places. Consider, for instance, the issue of nationality. Obviously, such tribalism is the basis of nationalism, where in it is assumed that people can not only work to help their country but they even have a duty to do such. And that sentiment right there is what I'm getting at, because one can simply change "country" to any other sort of tribal designation and there are people who would immediately agree, without a second thought.
Of course, everyone has different views regarding the importance of one's various "tribes." For instance, what is more important, duty to one's race or to one's country? To one's family or to the human race overall?
This is just a beginning, so feel free to chime in. I'll be adding more, later.