Tribalism and Politics

As a preface, a bit about  my upbringing. I am not from either here nor there. I was conceived outside of Los Angeles Ca., born outside of Buffalo N.Y. and learned how to walk and talk outside of Texas City Tx. I was literally raised in the backseat of a 1969 Ford station wagon. My home is America as seen from rt. 66.

By my tenth birthday I had lived in 11 towns in almost as many states. I was known, depending on where we were, as the kid from Texas or the kid from N.Y.  I have never called either place home.

This upbringing resulted in my being "not from here", a constant outsider, not a member of the tribe.

I learned early to observe the  habits and rituals of these natives and emulate them as best I could. I've lived in cities, towns and unincorporated country communities. They're all the same when it comes to tribalism. 

The follwing is the result of a conversation I overheard in a burger joint  two days ago in Arlington Tx.

"I can't be her friend 'cause she's not from here.'

Religions are a major contributor and source of tribalism as is politics.

Political tribalism. Why are you a member of your party? Is it you truly believe in what that party stands for or could you just be following the tribe?  Chances are you are following the tribe. Team spirit is a replacement term. Tribes go to war with opposing groups. We have "Team Blue ", "Team Red", thanks to the marketing "teams" re-branding efforts they are not seen as tribes, but they are.

There are sub-tribes within each major tribe. Ultra conservative, conservative, moderate and liberal. In the Christian, Judaism and Islamic  faiths we have the same tribalism. This religious tribalism crosses over into today's politics. It always has but it has become more pronounced and dangerous today than in the past.

Most of you don't know why and how the born again Christians came to embrace their pro-life stance. It was all about money. The born again movement was never realy about saving souls, it was and always has been about money and power. Today they call themselves Evangelicals. The Evangelical movement is by design non-denominational. They don't really have to share the wealth unlike the Catholic church.

This is where tribalism comes in. Tribes need to create more members. This is accomplished two ways. Conversions and procreation. Converting can be as easy as simply telling the prospective converts  what they want to hear. 'God wants you to be rich' is one of the most convincing ploys. The major problem here  is the procreation part. Women have been putting off pregnancy and have been gaining slightly more power. That is not good for the tribe. The solution?  Convert or payoff politicians. Buying judges also helps.

With politicians and the judiciary in tow passing restrictive laws becomes easy. Women lose the power they have gained and now can make more members.

One of the greatest downsides of this is tribes have a tendency towards short-sightedness. They are also blind to the agendas of outside groups willing to help them with their goals.

Enter the oligarchy! The War mongers and oil barons.

The Christian right evangelicals have a middle eastern problem. The Islamic right. Both tribes are fighting for domination. In the past the evangelicals have tried to convert in the middle east but that hasn't worked out very well for them. They tend to lose their heads. Oligarchs unfortunately for the evangelicals, worship money, power and greed. They do have a middle eastern problem too. They don't own it. So they funnel money to the evangelical right and politicians. Wars are fabricated on the false premise that Islamic radicals are threatening our way of life and Christianity.

And tribe fights tribe completely unaware that they are both being played. The agenda we rarely hear about is the oligarchs agenda. They simply want to own everything,  you included. They too are in their own little tribe.

did I piss you off?          I will.