The historic root of human dysfunction. The sense that each of us belongs to a group - or tribe - from which we derive our idea of who we are, what we call ourselves, what we believe, whom else is a member and who is excluded.
Whether rooting for a sports team or voting along party lines, we divide ourselves into 'us' and 'them', as humans have done for millennia. It leads us to war. At a minimum we endure a chronic state of para-warfare.
He could not fathom how she had voted for Biden! She in turn looked with speechless amazement at his mindless devotion to ... she could not bring herself to utter that reviled name! Neither could ever change the other's mind by an inch. They were exemplars of tribal identity, each believing their side was right, the other side wrong, the finding of middle ground a fantasy for Springsteen/Jeep commercials during the Super Bowl - itself a tribal enactment - and nothing more.
He could not fathom how she had voted for Biden! She in turn looked with speechless amazement at his mindless devotion to ... she could not bring herself to utter that reviled name! Neither could ever change the other's mind by an inch. They were exemplars of tribal identity, each believing their side was right, the other side wrong, the finding of middle ground a fantasy for Springsteen/Jeep commercials during the Super Bowl - itself a tribal enactment - and nothing more.
by Monkey's Dad July 27, 2021
The historic root of American dysfunction. The sense that each of us belongs to a group - or tribe - from which we derive our idea of who we are, what we call ourselves, what we believe, whom else is a member and who is excluded. Whether rooting for a sports team or voting along party lines, we divide ourselves into 'us' and 'them', as humans have done for millennia, and at present we endure a state of para-warfare.
She could not fathom how he had voted for Biden! Could he not see that he was a senile communist who was out to turn America into... well... into something... a socialist state where voter fraud would flourish, where vaccination was mandatory, like enforced mask wearing, which is exactly what the Nazis did?? She had heard it on TV.
Her friend looked with speechless amazement at her ethical, moral blindness, at how she could possibly have had her soul sucked dry by Rush, that imbecile, before having it entirely excised by Fox, how she could find a single redeeming quality in... he could not bring himself to utter the name... in that vacant-eyed, failed racist sea slug of a moronic, narcotized lying narcissistic gameshow host who wanted to overthrow our cherished democratic ideals and establish himself as dictator, as Putin's brain-dead errand boy!
Neither could ever change the other's mind by an inch. They were exemplars of tribal identity, each believing their side was right, the other side wrong, the finding of middle ground a fantasy for Springsteen/Jeep commercials during the Super Bowl and nothing more.
Her friend looked with speechless amazement at her ethical, moral blindness, at how she could possibly have had her soul sucked dry by Rush, that imbecile, before having it entirely excised by Fox, how she could find a single redeeming quality in... he could not bring himself to utter the name... in that vacant-eyed, failed racist sea slug of a moronic, narcotized lying narcissistic gameshow host who wanted to overthrow our cherished democratic ideals and establish himself as dictator, as Putin's brain-dead errand boy!
Neither could ever change the other's mind by an inch. They were exemplars of tribal identity, each believing their side was right, the other side wrong, the finding of middle ground a fantasy for Springsteen/Jeep commercials during the Super Bowl and nothing more.
by Monkey's Dad July 26, 2021