TRIBAL INSTINCTS
We wonder what is happening to America. Civility as we once
knew it has not only disappeared in politics, but it is now considered a
weakness.
If one accepts the idea currently circulated among scientists
and academics that evolutionary psychology is the main determinant of our
actions, (and I know what a hard intellectual pill this is to swallow) the
answer becomes clearer.
Some postulate that what we call a movement toward morality is
not a spiritual movement, but rather a long process of socio-economic tradeoffs.
- We won’t raid your village if you don’t raid ours.
- I won’t try to kill you if you won’t try to kill me.
- We will trade goods with you for mutual gain.
- We will agree to use artificial objects, i.e., money for exchange instead of direct and laborious bartering.
- We will agree to live in peaceful harmony in cities to facilitate life’s needs and make life easier.
- Etc.
Accepting that, what we now see is simply a reversion to a
more primitive, tribal state of evolution, spurred by fake news outlets and social
media.
- Danger is everywhere.
- We must band together as a tribe for survival.
- The Tribe is the most sacred of all entities.
- We must destroy all who threaten the tribe.
- We must forget personal peace and pleasure to protect the tribe.
- We will develop a spiritual belief system to control large populations withing the tribe.
- Our leaders must offer strength, not goodness.
Kind of begins to make sense, doesn’t it?
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