Rhetorically bemoaning 'tribalism' is frankly unhelpful and misguided. 'Tribes' are just another form of coalition and coalitions are the natural and inevitable self-organization of people with shared interests and positions in democratic politics. Our particular system here in the US under the Constitution was specifically designed not merely with the expectation that factionalism would arise but to deliberately rely on factionalism as a feature to help ensure that power remains somewhat dispersed and there is no stable equilibrium where any one faction can perpetually dominate all the levels and branches all the time. The current state of affairs IS rational. As dysfunctional as it may have become relative to a theoretical ideal, it's also still the political system that has been rather consistently outcompeting every other in the world. Take a look at how the average wealth of citizens in Europe has diverged over time from that of US citizens and then try to tell us that their votes are working out more effectively for them than ours have been. The average citizen of our poorest state is materially better off than the majority of EU citizens.
Europe has its own unique problems…but I would guess who is better off or not depends on the metric. There are divisions within divisions now and almost every country outside of the US is much more influenced by Marx than the US tradition which we think of as classical liberalism which is pre-Marx…everything post 1848 Communist Manifesto and the European Revolutions of 1848 have a different conception of liberty and the role of the state than before…Tribalism of some sort will always be with us and sometimes for good reasons that are rational and is blended now with discussions of nationalism which is the bulwark against globalization, of which there are over 13 different types from civic nationalism (which is what I would traditionally think of as the US ideal) to religious nationalism, left wing nationalism as seen in Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, much of the Middle East which combines religious nationalism with Marx- two seemingly contradictory viewpoints, to what we think of as national socialism with facism). Lots of ‘isms. George Washington warned against tribalism in terms of factionalism…not that it helped…but the new tribalism stems from resurgent new left politics (its reactionary politics on the conservative side requires a slightly different analysis although left/right liberal/conservative do not currently have much meaning right now as the designations don’t really fit neatly). Also much of what we see on that side comes from the post-modern position- there are no universals, only particulars…which means there can’t be shared values or rather only differences and not sameness…the implicit creed of the US was reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. But even that view has changed as liberal democracy does not have a shared understanding with one group wanting to get rid of the electoral college and have something more akin to direct democracy, another perhaps democratic socialism (a democratic socialist state that replaces capitalism where the government owns the means of production), or social democracy (which seems what liberal democracy is code for…capitalism with strong government regulation and social welfare programs) and others a constitutional republic. And yet others…who knows…but without some universal principles and shared values that are normative you get anarchy- which some view as a good thing or as Slavoj Žižek, who is definitely not woke and who famously debated Jordan Peterson said in his book quoting Mao in Heaven in Disorder, “Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent”
Tribalism decimated my family and friend circles. I now navigate life with the fragments that remain. I am politically independent, but all on the left either cancelled me completely or ignore me entirely.
I started to witness tribalism with differing political views. Then it ramped up during Covid with disagreements of masking and vaccination strategies. And then when one of my children declared a "trans" identity, tribalism blew up all my relationships.
It is hard to lose that many left of center friends and family and still maintain hopeful. I have not yet seen any evidence that those who have shunned me have had any regrets or interest in reconnecting.
Rhetorically bemoaning 'tribalism' is frankly unhelpful and misguided. 'Tribes' are just another form of coalition and coalitions are the natural and inevitable self-organization of people with shared interests and positions in democratic politics. Our particular system here in the US under the Constitution was specifically designed not merely with the expectation that factionalism would arise but to deliberately rely on factionalism as a feature to help ensure that power remains somewhat dispersed and there is no stable equilibrium where any one faction can perpetually dominate all the levels and branches all the time. The current state of affairs IS rational. As dysfunctional as it may have become relative to a theoretical ideal, it's also still the political system that has been rather consistently outcompeting every other in the world. Take a look at how the average wealth of citizens in Europe has diverged over time from that of US citizens and then try to tell us that their votes are working out more effectively for them than ours have been. The average citizen of our poorest state is materially better off than the majority of EU citizens.
Europe has its own unique problems…but I would guess who is better off or not depends on the metric. There are divisions within divisions now and almost every country outside of the US is much more influenced by Marx than the US tradition which we think of as classical liberalism which is pre-Marx…everything post 1848 Communist Manifesto and the European Revolutions of 1848 have a different conception of liberty and the role of the state than before…Tribalism of some sort will always be with us and sometimes for good reasons that are rational and is blended now with discussions of nationalism which is the bulwark against globalization, of which there are over 13 different types from civic nationalism (which is what I would traditionally think of as the US ideal) to religious nationalism, left wing nationalism as seen in Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, much of the Middle East which combines religious nationalism with Marx- two seemingly contradictory viewpoints, to what we think of as national socialism with facism). Lots of ‘isms. George Washington warned against tribalism in terms of factionalism…not that it helped…but the new tribalism stems from resurgent new left politics (its reactionary politics on the conservative side requires a slightly different analysis although left/right liberal/conservative do not currently have much meaning right now as the designations don’t really fit neatly). Also much of what we see on that side comes from the post-modern position- there are no universals, only particulars…which means there can’t be shared values or rather only differences and not sameness…the implicit creed of the US was reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. But even that view has changed as liberal democracy does not have a shared understanding with one group wanting to get rid of the electoral college and have something more akin to direct democracy, another perhaps democratic socialism (a democratic socialist state that replaces capitalism where the government owns the means of production), or social democracy (which seems what liberal democracy is code for…capitalism with strong government regulation and social welfare programs) and others a constitutional republic. And yet others…who knows…but without some universal principles and shared values that are normative you get anarchy- which some view as a good thing or as Slavoj Žižek, who is definitely not woke and who famously debated Jordan Peterson said in his book quoting Mao in Heaven in Disorder, “Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent”
Tribalism decimated my family and friend circles. I now navigate life with the fragments that remain. I am politically independent, but all on the left either cancelled me completely or ignore me entirely.
I started to witness tribalism with differing political views. Then it ramped up during Covid with disagreements of masking and vaccination strategies. And then when one of my children declared a "trans" identity, tribalism blew up all my relationships.
It is hard to lose that many left of center friends and family and still maintain hopeful. I have not yet seen any evidence that those who have shunned me have had any regrets or interest in reconnecting.