The trivialization of tribalization
The greatest of all human tragedies is our lack of realization that we have more things in common than the little trivial things that distinguish us from one another. Be it the discrimination between so-called races, wars fought in the name of religion, secession of countries, formation of states based on ethnicity or favoritism at work or play based on any of these, they are all forms of tribalization. And because of these, we humans have gone through unnecessary sufferring for millenia; sufferring in the form of wars of bigotry, increased bureaucracies resulting from the balkanisation of states, subjugation of one group of society by another, unequal distribution of resources, &c. When I dare to imagine what we could have accomplished if we worked for the common improvement, advancement and happiness of our ephemeral society, but realize the wasted opportunities at every instant of everyday, everywhere, deeply saddened I feel. Need I mention the Peloponnesian War, the Hundred Years War, the Crusades, the two World Wars; the Rwandan genocide; Apartheid, the Palestine-Israeli conflict, civil conflicts in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, the two Sudans, C.A. R, and the DRC; ethnic politics in Ethiopia; the caste systems in India; millions of lives and basic infrastructure wasted by such nonsensical movements as Boko Haram, ISIS, al Shabab, al Qaida, Taliban; seccesionist movements in Quebec, Catalonia, Scotland; de facto whites-only and blacks-only work places/recreation centers, to make my point? These are just a few examples-some past and most of them [still] present- of blind hatred to otherness and ignorance of our basic element of being human. It is a failure to think of the individual-and not the tribe!- as the more fundamental building block of society. The grandest of all arrogances emanates from the tribalistic feeling of superiority; be what the tribe may: ethnicity, race or religion (ERR). To ERR is tribal, and tribal is utterly backward, prelogical and trivial.
posted by Amare Abebe @ 15:17
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