To what tribe do you belong?
Published May 31, 2018
By Tom Campbell
by Tom Campbell, Producer and Moderator of NC SPIN, May 31, 2018
How do you identify yourself? You might begin by stating whether you’re male or female, or the age group you are in. Or you might identify by race, sex, religion, where you live or your profession. Throughout recorded history humans have been tribal. We need to belong, to identify with others, to have established norms.
For much of the 20thcentury most North Carolina voters belonged to the Democratic tribe. Many went so far as to define themselves as “North Carolina Democrats,” a tribal subset more moderate or conservative than the more liberal national tribe. When the Republican Party emerged and inched within numerical parity many cheered, thinking two competitive parties would be good for public debate, field more and better candidates, ensure better solutions and better government.
Two things dashed those aspirations.
Part of the reason why Republicans gained such a foothold in North Carolina was because, like the national Democratic Party, our state Democrats moved further to the progressive left. Many of those lifelong “North Carolina Democrats,” especially white males, complained the party had left them, so they, in turn, left and joined the Republican tribe. We now see the GOP waging a similar battle for identity, with traditional mainstream Republicans (think Jim Broyhill and Jim Martin) trying to survive against more aggressive, hardline, ultra-right elements (think Mark Meadows and Bob Rucho).
These tribal wars are playing out badly for both parties, especially when you factor in the second reality – the absolute insistence that to keep your tribal ID card and secret decoder ring you either back the tribe in any and all positions, no matter how preposterous, or get off the reservation. Registration numbers demonstrate more are leaving…or least not choosing the two dominant tribes. Unaffiliated voters will soon eclipse state Republicans in number and are gaining on Democrats. They haven’t formed a tribe yet, but stick around.
Amy Chua, in a fascinating book, Political Tribes; Group instinct and the fate of nations, says the identity politics that has seized both the American left and right is dangerous. “On the left, this has given rise to increasingly radical and exclusionary rhetoric of privilege and cultural appropriation,” she writes. “On the right, it has fueled a disturbing rise in xenophobia and white nationalism.”
As we head into the mid-term 2018 elections here are some conclusions drawn from 50 years of following politics. There is nothing wrong with identifying with a tribe. We always have and always will. What has made our current climate toxic and threatening is that our total allegiance to a political, philosophical or other tribe is robbing us of our larger identities as North Carolinians and Americans. And we aren’t just talking North Carolinians only or Americans only, because we are also citizens of the world.
These are not times for divisiveness. Comfortable as the tribe might be, the issues are too large, the consequences too great and lessons from our history demonstrate what happens when tribalism, nationalism or any of the “isms” dominate us and blind us into blaming, bigotry, isolation and hatred.
Bishop Michael Curry, in his magnificent homily at the Royal wedding, called us into becoming our better selves, people who love God, country and love one another. The real tribe to which we belong is that of humankind.
May 31, 2018 at 9:46 pm
Norm Kelly says:
"our state Democrats moved further to the progressive left". "Progressive left" is the kinder, gentler, not-quite-accurate words that actually means, and is more accurate to use, "socialist left". "Progressive" sounds like they want to move "forward", "ahead", when in fact they have no new ideas to move forward, they are constantly looking back, using the same old, tired, useless, failed play book dating back to the 60's & 70s. What NEW idea have demoncrats come up with since then? Cuz socialized medicine ain't new. Dividing groups along racial lines ain't new. Dividing groups along taxed vs. not-taxed ain't new either - demons refer to this as "the rich don't pay their fair share". So, what's new with the socialist left? Other than trying to claim the mantel of "Progressive".
"hardline, ultra-right elements". As in those of us who believe in the rule of law. Those of us who believe if I've earned it, it's MINE! Those of us who believe "illegal alien" means someone who has already broken the law just by being here, and deserves to be treated as a law-breaker, not given "special/preferential treatment". "Ultra-right" as in those of us who believe (actually know) that socialized medicine has it's own failure built in, and can see those facts right in front of our faces, and aren't afraid to point out those facts.
"called us into becoming our better selves, people who love God". But we MUST remember that it's those whacky leftists who refuse to allow ANYONE to identify as people who love God, or even recognize that there is a God. These are nice words, but it's difficult to become a person who loves God when you get taken to court for being a person who loves God. You MUST conform to the whims of elite leftists or suffer consequences. And it's the elite leftists that refuse to let the rest of us be people who love God and they DO make us suffer consequences for not falling in line with their whims and schemes!
" the issues are too large, the consequences too great". Yup, that's true. But how exactly does one compromise with a group of people that don't recognize what compromise is? How does one deal with those who take people to court simply for having a difference of opinion? When elite leftists refuse to allow conservative voices on elite leftist college campuses because 'their words are offensive', just because they don't conform to the leftist agenda, how does one deal with that in an intelligent, functional way? Elite leftists have proven time after time after time after time that they don't compromise, they don't negotiate, they sue. Elite leftists use the courts to force their agenda down the throats of those who don't agree with them. Elite leftists ARE PROGRESSIVE SOCIALISTS pretending to be kind, friendly, cooperative folks. But these elitists are simply wolves in wolves clothing with a bow in the fur on their heads to make it look friendly. Yet they have proven to be wolves. To these elite leftists (and to be redundant, their media allies), 'compromise' means the 'right' gives up everything they want, accept 100% of the elite leftist agenda, and make it look good that they all got along.
And it's the future of our nation that is the issue, that is the consequence we are all fighting for. Elite leftists see our future as one where they run everything, and everyone else is subject to their whims & schemes, but only they are allowed in positions of power. It's called a SOCIALIST UTOPIA, but it's a pipe dream. It's the elite leftists that want to tax & spend our nation into bankruptcy. It's the elite leftists that want to give up our sovereignty. The consequence of our nation going bankrupt is worth fighting for, and it ain't the elite left waging this battle. Our national sovereignty is at stake when elite leftists insist our borders should not exist and that illegal aliens should be allowed to vote. If citizenship doesn't mean anything, the left's idea, then our nation is doomed, and we will be ruled by outsiders. This is the agenda of the left. But it's not "white nationalism" from the right that says these things. It's patriots, those who love our FREE-est nation on earth, who believe borders serve a purpose that say these things. Freedom is to be defended, and it will be by right-wing Americans once again when it's time; those who have refused to allow elite leftists to confiscate guns/weapons, and those who continue to be people who love God even when elite leftists persecute us.
June 1, 2018 at 9:57 am
NC SPIN says:
Norm, I guess we know which tribe you belong to and also which faction of that tribe.
June 1, 2018 at 10:41 pm
Don Pierce says:
Tom, both you and Amy Chua are correct in that joining a tribe is an inherent human trait and that it causes us to give up some of our freedom of thought for acceptance into the tribe AND as she points out it can make us lie to ourselves to resolve cognitive dissonance of conflicting facts versus dogma. Every level of tribe can and does this but some are worse than others. Those that follow Jesus's last and greatest commandment - the golden rule are the most likely to be right in the long run. I refer to the one through the eye of the needle which many in power presently are not likely to ride their camel through.
June 4, 2018 at 9:44 am
NC SPIN says:
Spot on, old friend.
Tom
June 4, 2018 at 7:20 am
Polk Culpepper, JD, MDiv says:
Mr. Campbell, Uncritical acceptance of what one's tribe stands for, regardless of the facts, is what leads many to discount what other tribes stand for. Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind, attempts to answer the questions you implicitly asked in your recent newspaper article: why political partisans are so willing to believe outrageous lies and conspiracy theories; why politicians on the right have a built-in advantage when it comes to appealing to basic human intuitions. Haidt asserts that one of the reasons its so difficult for persons of different tribes (political, religious, social, cultural) to get along is that they are blinded by their own righteousness, making them unable to see the good in members of different tribes.Our minds were designed by evolution and culture to be part of tribes with a sense of moral righteousness and to therefore be in conflict with tribes that ascribe to different a sense of moral righteousness. The goal, then, is to connect with those who live in different matrices by forming relationships of trust and, eventually, becoming open to different moral narratives and worldviews. Rather than continuing to live with moral earplugs and blinders rigged so that we only hear and see what confirms our tribe's moral righteousness.
June 4, 2018 at 9:43 am
NC SPIN says:
Polk, thank you for your insightful comments. That was ultimately the point I was trying to make. I appreciate your taking time to respond.
Tom
June 4, 2018 at 3:52 pm
Thomas Rose says:
