This article isn’t about politics. No, this blog post is more about why humans are so drawn to tribalism. Prior to monarchies, governments, and organized religion, our ancestors existed in tribal cultures around the world. Increasingly, our society (American society) is moving towards one of tribalism. Have we lost our way when it comes to being a closer knit community as a whole?
The question isn’t, why is tribalism so attractive to us? That seems obvious based on the human desire to connect and belong. The question is more, why is modern society so unappealing?
Bluntly put, modern society emphasizes extrinsic values (beauty, money, status) over intrinsic ones (feeling authentic in their lives and connected to others in a meaningful way). As a result, mental health issues refuse to decline with growing wealth. Affluence and the convenience of technology and amenities might not be worth the tradeoff for more freedom. (Yes, I am implying that the U.S. is not as free as it claims to be — our culture demands that the more affluence we obtain, the more time needs to be spent maintaining it. As a result, we now have a culture of bullshit jobs.) “The more assimilated a person is into American society, the more likely they are to develop depression during the course of their lifetime, regardless of what ethnicity they are.” (Junger, Tribes) Notice he said American society, not “modern” society. This has been going on for a very long time.
When America was still a mostly undeveloped and unexplored frontier except for a few industrialized cities filled with slums and factories, European settlers lived surrounded by thousands of miles of wilderness populated by tribes who fought with spears and tomahawks — the American Indians. Quite a stark contrast of societies. It should say something about human nature that many European settlers made the conscious decision to run off into the woods and join Indian society. They married into them, were adopted into them and fought alongside them. They emulated their culture and became fiercely loyal to it.
The opposite almost never happened. Indians were not running away to join white American society among the European settlers. The defectors always went in the opposite direction and it left white leaders completely perplexed about their situation because it made them question their supposed superiority. “When an Indian child has been brought up among us, taught our language and habituated to our customs…if he goes to see his relations…there is no persuading him ever to return,” wrote Benjamin Franklinin 1753. A French settler named Hector de Crévecoeur said in 1782, “There must be something in their social bond something singularly captivating and far superior to anything to be boasted of us.” (Goldberg, Suicide of the West) Both men are acknowledging that there is something about the Indian tribes that the European settlers found much more satisfying and fulfilling than anything western society had to offer nor could it compete with.
It wasn’t just men who fled American society to join Indian tribes. Women like Mary Jemison also joined them. Jemison was a Seneca captive who was kidnapped from her family’s farm in Pennsylvania at the age of fifteen. She became so captivated with Seneca tribal life that when a white search party came looking for her, she hid from them. Later on in her life, she explained that she enjoyed the autonomous, classless and egalitarian culture of the tribe. There was plenty of food, leisure time, and freedom. Sexual conventions were much more relaxed. Indian clothing was more comfortable and suited for the wilderness. Indian religious customs were not as strict. There was a reverence for women and nature that Jemison greatly admired.
It was because of these freedoms that members of the tribe were fiercely loyal and willing to die to preserve them.
Which brings me to American soldiers. Why do so many American veterans suffer from PTSD, even the ones who didn’t experience any combat? Why do countries with compulsory military service have such low rates of PTSD?
In a very unpopular study, researchers found that American soldiers are returning from wars that are safer than the ones their fathers and grandfathers fought yet have far higher rates of PTSD along with feelings of alienation and depression. This is common even among soldiers who never experienced any combat. This is because the problem is not trauma on the battlefield, as was so commonly thought. It was reentry into society. Soldiers aren’t the only ones who experience this. Peace Corps volunteers have reported the same feelings after their return to western society.
Once again, what is so unappealing about modern western society that makes it so impossible to transition back into? “You’ll have to be prepared to say that we are not a good society — that we are an anti-human society,” warns anthropologist Sharon Abramowitz, who is also a former Peace Corps volunteer. “We are not good to each other. Our tribalism is to an extremely narrow group of people: our children, our spouse, maybe our parents. Our society is alienating, technical, cold, and mystifying. Our fundamental desire, as human beings, is to be close to others, and our society does not allow for that.” (Vanity Fair)
When it comes to tribes and military units, you are never alone. Everything you do is for the health and safety of your unit. When these men and women return home, they find that western society is one of isolation, heirarchy and individualism. Sure, they are told, “Thank you for your service” but that means absolutely nothing since we don’t give them what they really need — support, understanding and jobs. We treat them like victims to be pitied, which is something they do not see themselves as, especially during their deployments.
Why do countries with compulsory military service such as Israel have such low instances of PTSD? Because it is a shared experience. They are also countries with high social resilience, meaning there is plenty of resource sharing and high wealth redistribution. Veterans return to their society as necessary and productive members who are capable of contributing. They are given jobs and real respect. They are not treated as victims or looked at with pity. Does this sound anything like America? No, it doesn’t. Why bother fighting for a country that isn’t even willing to provide the basic human necessities for you?
What does this mean for me as a Filipina American? I believe tribalism is a reality that we will soon need to reconcile. Interdependency, solidarity and community (traits present in Asian societies) will always be stronger and closer to the human condition than a culture of individualism and material wealth.
Want more? Check out this book by Sebastian Junger: Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging.
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I usually do a write up of the events I’ve organized or hosted and my most-read articles at the end of the year. This was an unusual year (obviously, there is no need to go into it here) so I didn’t bother. Instead I want to highlight a project of mine that I am particularly proud of — it’s my new podcast show, Unverified Accounts, that I cohost with my frequent collaborators, Chris Jesu Lee and Filip Guo. If you're a big movie/TV/book buff, have leftist sympathies, but can't stand 'wokeness' dumbing down our culture, then we're the podcast for you. So far in our 25 episodes, we’ve covered a range of contentious topics.