This is actually a topic that makes me angry, not because of what it represents, but because we should have moved past this as a species by now. Tribes are it seems an ancient human characteristic that we cannot let go of, perhaps it is genetic, in that it cannot be overcome by our brains no matter how advanced we get. However I am not in any tribe and have myself transcended the need for them. I operate on the principals of truth, trust and agreement. But hey perhaps I’m the odd one out, the genetic oddity that is not like the other humans who seem willing to be slaves.

Anyway what are these tribes? Tribes are organisations of humans that band together and form a unified consciousness, then the like minds go on to work together, play together, and defend each other; from other tribes who are mostly the same but different enough to make them unique. Being tribal is as prevalent now as it ever was in history, and while some may pretend that they are not in certain tribes, most will openly state and share their tribal allegiances. This can be seen in the form of friendships and families, gangs, support for a sports team, or a belief in a political movement, fighting for ones country, or as is the case for some tribes; abolishing countries altogether.

Looking back in time, tribes may have been useful to protect humans from attackers in earlier eras of this planet, but todays world it’s an idea that should end as it is doing more harm than good.

If you look at the anatomy of a tribe, you have a leader, an inner core, and then a large body of supporters who are squabbling with each other over information or sometimes physical means, they’re trying to become one of the inner core and maybe even the leader themselves.

The tribe itself seeks to grow and take over other tribes “to win at all costs” to become the only tribe on planet Earth. Each will fight other tribes and protect itself from losses, both individually and collectively. The “loss” factor of any situation will be covered up by the tribe to protect it’s own supporters from learning of it and then damaging the herd. Individually, supporters will lie, cheat, and manufacture evidence to the contrary of any bad situation thus protecting the tribe from ramifications of any loss. A tribe is in essence a kind of brain structure that is made up of many dispersed nodes, these have network connections along the lines of ideology, belief, and a sense of who the enemy is.

Because of the mindset of a tribe member, individual thinking is largely removed and each of them looks, sounds, and acts the same. They look a lot like brainwashed cult members. Each will have nothing bad said around them about the tribe, they will shun and mock other people who stand for something different. Each member of the tribe is basically subjugated by the beliefs of their tribe, and risks ostracization if they do not behave in accordance with the tribes policies.

These cult members will go to extraordinary lengths to achieve two things, firstly to increase their value in the tribe, and secondly to prove just how much they hate the other tribes. They will willingly go to jail for a crime committed in the defense of the tribe, and some will sacrifice their lives towards the cause, so committed are they to fitting in. Truth in this sense is a secondary consideration, what the tribal leader says is the truth for the tribe, even if it contradicts reality and members are expected to push this false truth onto others.

You may think that there are laws in countries that will not allow such behaviour to go on, but you will find that organisations and judicial bodies have been infiltrated by the tribes neurons to look after their own tribe members and to punish opposing tribes. As such Justice is not blind, she peaks under the blindfold to see who she is dealing with and will look favourably on them while victimise others. If a tribe has the majority of power in a country they will ignore laws they don’t like and can go as far as they can to rewrite laws in their favour, of course at the expense of other tribes. It is like if a crime family ran everything but pretended to be honourable law abiding and altruistic, with smiles and charity loving families that hide the darkness within.

Tribes are the antithesis of a meritocracy, choosing their own over others, not because theirs’s are better, but because a familiar. They look like a network node that will support their tribe’s goals no matter how evil they may be. Sadly as long as this behaviour continues we will never get anything other than a thin veneer of respectibility in society from tribal thinking. We will also not solve any of the worlds problems, as there will always be infighting and power games, and the truth will never be told. If tribes are big enough, and come to blows, then we all may feel the wrath of tribal warfare, and possibly get dragged into world wars.

Sadly for those who are not in a tribe and not aware of them they will become ensnared by triable thinking all the same. They may not be card carrying members but they want to get along and so act like the tribe for as long as it suits them. These types likely have different friendship groups and behave in a chameleon fashion to present different characteristics of themselves to each tribe they deal with. Then we have those who choose not to be a part of this animalistic structure, and they are the lone wolves, not abiding by any of the tribes rules, and doing their own thing. Not aggressively, but their will to stand in the truth outways any sense of belonging to and getting on with a tribe.

The story of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull illustrates tribes very well as a metaphor for us humans, and also demonstrates that without the pressure to conform on ones shoulders, an individual can transcend the tribe and go on to do amazing things. It is this model that we should all try to follow and as Jonathan in the story started a new collective of individuals out side of his tribe, we too can behave in the same way. This is not a tribe in the sense outlined above, but rather is a collection of exceptional individuals who agree to work together. Individuals who are capable and unafraid can form a new kind of organisation, where people have freedom to come and go but choose to stay and help others for the sake of the collective future for all.

I call this an autonomous collective without fixed dogmas and practices, without corruption or power seeking, everybody is equal. A non-tribe if you like, all are welcome if they live in truth and behave like individuals who have arrived at the same conclusion as to what is good for humanity.