General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIMO, I believed that racism was at the core of all problems, I was wrong, it is tribalism.
I now believe that humans are composed of generic DNA forming us into tribes. The tribe is totally irrational, anything can be used to form a tribe, the tribe seeks uniformity, and seeks a strong center of control.
Everyone not in the tribe are considered the enemy. The tribe is happy and content as a long as change is slow but....if forced to give up the tribal identity it can react deadly, or self destructive or totally irrational.
Racism was just an excuse to avoid our tribal connection and its irrational behavior.
wasupaloopa
(4,516 posts)first sentence comes from.
If it is based on proven fact then ok, If not your whole premise based on it is false.
Stinky The Clown
(67,757 posts)wasupaloopa
(4,516 posts)CK_John
(10,005 posts)wasupaloopa
(4,516 posts)And that you were wrong is your opinion.
The last idea reads like it is truth that replaces your opinion.
That's how I read it
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)If you add up your ancestors, you realize humans are all one family.
How many ancestors do we have? One day I started to count.
I was not prepared for the answer or its implications.
We each have 2 parents .... 4 grandparents, .... 8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, 32, 64, 128, 256,
512 great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents,
1,024 2,048 4,092 8,184 16,368
Fifteen generations ago 32,736 great, great..... grandparents.
Counting back, every generation twice as many ancestors as the generation of descendants.
Given 25 years per generation, 40 generations occur in 1000 years.
We each have one trillion ancestors in the last 1000 years, ...............
Needless to say, there have never been a trillion people. So duplication MUST fill all the ancestry slots. Only geography makes the depth of when and how many are shared by whom more ancient in some cases. If people would just use simple arithmetic to see this, problem solved.
CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)is the core of all problems
maxsolomon
(33,232 posts)I could just as easily argue that Anomie/Alienation the cause of all problems.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)only solution
Decoy of Fenris
(1,954 posts)Racism is a subsection of tribalism. Tribalism works in the lives of everyone, everywhere, from sports teams to inter-profession rivalries, from national interactions to political fights. More importantly than that, tribalism is insidious and will find a way to thrive no matter how happy or content, or homogeneous, a given tribe is. To quote, "Cause at the end of the day, long as there's two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead. "
Often, scholars insist that one of the major differences between tribalism and racism is that racism is rooted in -irrational- means, whereas tribalism is a grouping bias based on semi-rational means (normally negative interactions with other tribes). I tend to disagree with that on its face, as without the associations granted by tribalism, racism would not be possible, but that's a matter of personal preference really.
Take a look through history, if you will. All throughout human history we've subdivided ourselves by tribes. From the early days even to the modern era, we all define ourselves as something, or some group, or another. The Byzantines considered themselves Romans, Italians supplanted their nationality with their tribal name, the Lombards. The Gauls, though all agreed upon being Gauls, were subdivided into tribes within their tribe. In Africa, tribalism ruled, where tribal warfare and conflict, or flat out kidnapping, were the instigating factors of slavery to the white men (and other black tribes as well).
Racism is just the natural course of -irrational- tribalism. The belief that one "Tribe" or another is morally, ethically or technologically superior by birthright, judged rather crudely and simply by the arbitrary factor of "Race". Even now in America, you have tribal divides of every stripe. Pro-Anti-Choice, pro-anti-Second Amendment, 1% vs. 99%, Democrats versus Republicans, you can go on forever, and both "Tribes" insist with 100% certainty that they are morally and ethically in the right. Racism is just one line of a millenia-old laundry list of subsidiary tribalism trends. In truth, as far as "major problems of life" go, racism ranks pretty far down that list on a global, or even national, scale. Tribalism, on the other hand, is a significant and persistent threat to the vast majority of humanity at large. End Tribalism and you'll end Racism by default.
At the risk of bringing down a boatload of shit on myself, I'll go further than that. A large part of tribalism, and racism, and most other sorts of "isms", is that it's a two way street. A tribe can only act against another tribe so long as the other tribe -is- a tribe. I've long pondered this, and have come to the conclusion that so long as we identify -ourselves- as some sort of group (black or white, men or women, gay or straight, American or Russian, et cetera), we are opening ourselves up to massive degrees of tribalism and every subsequent "ism". We are identifying as a tribe, and in doing so, we are giving power to those who may oppose our tribe for either rational or irrational means. If you're interested in a thought experiment, make a day of just asking people something along the lines of "Hey, what are you?" Those with a prominent focus on race will answer "I'm black" or "I'm Polish" or something similar. You may also find people who respond "I'm a Carpenter" or "I'm in Retail". Those people, were I to hazard a guess, are those with no irrational preoccupation with race and are the least likely to hold any particular views towards racism. (That said, it's not exactly a scientific study, so your mileage may vary.)
If you want to truly end the perils and pitfalls of tribalism, you'll do so when you can convince people that they aren't what they say they are, but simply "Human".
(P.S./footnote: Even "Human" is a form of tribalism, in relation to the rest of the natural world, but as my up-post quote says, so long as there's two people... Long post short; Tribalism and all of its associated benefits and ills will -never- cease so long as there's even one thing to identify two particular tribes. )
rock
(13,218 posts)The tribe embodies the concept and cultivation of culture, and nobody is going to argue that culture is not an extremely powerful force.
Stinky The Clown
(67,757 posts)Your theory is worth consideration.
wasupaloopa
(4,516 posts)that man is basically evil and left to his own devices he will return to evil.
Nothing in the movie proves that theory.
That idea comes from genesis that says we are all children of Adam and Eve and we inherit original sin and are sinners who must be redeemed or saved to get unto heaven.
I don't buy any of it. We choose to be evil or not as induviduals.
Wounded Bear
(58,584 posts)much like our simian relatives, humans collect into groups.
"Race" is a convenient method of dividing people into "us" vs "them" that is based on readily apparent physical characteristics. In areas like Europe, where there are large numbers of "white" people, culture and language tends to be used to frame the differences.
CK_John
(10,005 posts)collect but doesn't give us a core reason. So the tribe ends up beginning irrational.
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)Both are built on faulty interpretations of genetics and evolution. Neither are determinants or natural phenomena in culture with free agency to self examine and admit to flawed beliefs. We have opportunities to override social constructs that may be unhealthy and reminiscent of defensive behaviors that are no longer needed. Racism is more than a dismissal of those opportunities. It is a basis to construct or, in the case of the US, to deliberately maintain social dominance. The same can be said for misogyny, anti LGBT attitudes, and a claim of superior bodies and minds.
CK_John
(10,005 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)But I now think it is.
Very disappointing.
CK_John
(10,005 posts)wear certain types of clothing, or color clothing items to recognize its members? IMO, it's bigger than race.
NobodyHere
(2,810 posts)But racism is to blame for a white woman losing?