Human Nature

[Belacqua]

Now here's the part where I get everybody mad at me again: 

Let's say that we are in the tribe of atheist/Democrat/"trust-the-science" types. I am not convinced that this is the very bestest number one tribe, superior to all the others. All the tribes have their good points and bad points, or else nobody would stay in them. From our point of view, given our preferences, ours will of course seem best, because we have chosen a tribe that aligns with our view, and then once we're in the tribe it reinforces and informs further views in line with tribal thinking. 

The fact that our tribe seems so compatible with neoliberalism, which has serious drawbacks, makes me think we could do better.

But I think it is our duty to remain very wary of tribal thinking, and remain open to the qualities in people very unlike ourselves. I mean, it's easy to focus on Fox News, which is of course horrible. But I'm not convinced that people who believe what CNN or MSNBC are telling them are all that much smarter.

First, everything has its pluses and minuses in different proportions, or tradeoffs if you prefer.  It's inescapable.  Politics are therefore typically about assessing and setting priorities, not usually about good versus evil.  Nevertheless, I hate hatred and am intolerant to intolerance because that is what they deserve -- stiff opposition.  So democracy itself, as one example, has serious drawbacks, but that doesn't mean there is any better system available to us weak-minded humans.  Trumpism certainly isn't.

All very true.

Second, the house is on fire in the U.S., which means we can dispense with the usual liberal mea culpas for the time being.

Well, to overextend the metaphor, if the house is on fire I want to know why 911 isn't picking up, and why the firemen can't find their hoses. 

The danger of tribalism is that we can displace all the wrong-doing onto our enemy tribe, while turning a blind eye to our own grievous mistakes.