Tribalism is a huge part of all of us. It gives us the most fundamental value and meaning; love, affection, loyalty, duty, responsibility, and a cause/the basic building block of our life. But, just as all other realities of our lives, we have to know how to handle it wisely.
Handling the tribalism wisely has been with us for a long, long time as one of the most important issues of humanity. After thousands of years, we still don't know how to make it work for all of the humanity. At the beginning of 21st century, after all those havocs/sufferings caused by tribalism, we are witnessing the continued devastation by it all over the world. It seems to be safe to assume that it'll get worse/stay worse for a long time before it gets better.
It is clear that getting better means going beyond tribalism. The question becomes how far beyond to go and how much of the tribal comfort, convenience, and identity to compromise. In other words, it is about how to get out of your protective shell or comfort zone.
Palestinian refugees, 1948 <www.en.wikipedia.org>
In an ideal world, we keep our tribalism and gain transcending mind set on top of it. In the real world, right now at the regions in conflict,the boundaries of tribalism is getting smaller, the extreme voices getting louder, other tribes are being vehemently denigrated. Unfortunately, the regions in conflict cover most of the world. But underlying it all, there is the glimmer of hope here and there; the inexorable march of humanity.
David Remnick had a nice article in The New Yorker on Israel about its growing extremism, and conservatism. He is pointing out that it is bringing isolation from the community of the world. In a similar vein, Japan's present administration is not helping much of their position in the world and bringing isolation of their own making onto themselves. No country can survive the isolation from the community of nations for a long period of time, just look at North Korea.
David Remnick www.en.wikipedia.org
For many of the succeeding generations of Korean Americans, post-tribalism is a fact of life, already. The question is what kind of form would it take, and how to get there. It has to come with vision, dignity, decency, integrity, and class. Each one of us has find one's own way in the task.
Along the way, we should provide room for the people who find shelter in tribalism, especially, at the personal level.
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