Tribal Identity

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.