I just read an article that painted tribalism as a wholly negative thing. And, sure, it can be, in many respects.
When people divide themselves into us-versus-them categories, tribalism can become a pretty destructive force in society and in the world.
But even then, it doesn’t have to be all bad. When people break off into like-minded groups, that’s often a survival strategy. When the wider world feels too overwhelming, we look for comfort among those that are like us. And as long as these self-protective tribes don’t grow hostile toward others, the instinct can actually be healthy.
The real problem comes when one tribe starts to believe it is fundamentally superior. When it grows hungry for dominance, for the resources and assets of others. That’s when tribalism becomes cancerous.
We’ve seen that happen far too many times throughout history; maybe especially here in the Americas.
Among Native American tribes, there were those who simply wanted to coexist in harmony; with each other, with nature, with neighboring tribes. But there were also tribes motivated by war and conquest. Same land, same species… wildly different philosophies.
Which is why tribalism is such a complicated subject. So much depends on the prevailing mindset; not just within the tribe, but between tribes.
And that brings us back to the age-old tension between competition and cooperation.
There have always been groups that leaned toward rivalry and aggression. And there have always been groups that leaned toward peace and mutual support.
So what puts one group on one path, and another group on a completely different one? It’s easy to say “culture,” but where does culture come from?
Maybe it’s environmental conditions. Maybe humans are shaped by the struggles they face. Groups who evolved in landscapes of abundance tended to grow cooperatively. Groups who evolved in scarcity tended to become competitive — sometimes violently so.
And this pattern shows up again and again across history. Take any group of gentle, cooperative people and drop them into an environment of threat and deprivation… and their instincts will shift. Survival changes philosophies. Almost inevitably.
Humans are adaptive creatures. Our social dynamics change as our circumstances change. And that should concern us a great deal given the times we’re in.
We’re entering a period of increasing scarcity (manufactured though it may be) and by this logic, humanity may find itself reverting to a more aggressive and competitive model. A natural reaction to the pressure of survival.
We’ve always seen it at the level of nations: one country competing with another. One political system battling another. One economy trying to out-play another. But as conditions worsen, that mindset will trickle down; to cities, to neighborhoods, even to families.
This is something to keep in mind as we all watch this unfold. Something to keep in mind as we make political, economic, social, and personal choices.
Because, truth be told, we helped build this scarcity. We chose an extractive economic system. We rewarded greed and selfishness. We embraced mega-consumption. We readily adopted technology and drifted into isolation.
And since survival instincts are hardwired into us, and since history has shown us what comes next, shouldn’t we have chosen differently? Shouldn’t we have pursued real abundance? Sustainable abundance?
But since we didn’t, since we’ve backed ourselves into this corner… our way out now depends on the choices we make from here.
So I say — choose abundance. Choose to build a world where cooperation isn’t a luxury, but a viable option. Choose to stop pushing ourselves further into a scarcity-driven mindset.
Make small personal choices each day that promote abundance. With every act of kindness, we gain a little more breathing room. With every cooperative gesture, the corner becomes a little less tight.
Maybe — possibly — it’s not too late to turn things around.
Maybe — hopefully — we can give tribalism a new look.
Maybe, just maybe, we can transform tribalism from self-preservation through competition… into community through cooperation.
Join us in making the world a better place. You’ll be glad that you did.
Cheers, friends.