Here's a second reading reflecting what I said yesterday —
"It'd help if those who bemoan America's tribalization would propose remedies."
We need better analyses of not only the causes and consequences but also the
cures for malignant tribalism. (Of course, that applies to me too, but we'll
get to that some other time.)
This reading is Deepak Chopra’s “After Trump, What Will It
Take To Heal?” (2016), published right after the election.
Deepak Chopra!? I never thought I'd be quoting him in a
professional effort. Too new-age for me. Yet here he is, showing a good grasp
of the tribal form and how it can turn sour. I include it because he proposes
ways to improve interpersonal relations (but not society's structures and
processes) in today's America.
Here's his opening theme:
"A kind of tribalism has grown
up in our democratic society, and the new segregation along party lines means
that many people don’t even have a friend who votes the other way. …
"If you can identify with any
of these symptoms — and which of us cannot? — the way to healing is clear.
Become part of the solution by consciously changing your tribal attitudes,
words, and actions."
However, he points out, tribalism brings psychic benefits
that make it difficult for people to change:
"The difficulty is that tribal
thinking carries with it a package of benefits: you get to belong, to agree
with others, to share a common foe, to feel self-righteous and angry at the
same time. These are powerful incentives not to change. …
"Likewise, tribal thinking
brings secondary benefits, but one shouldn’t overlook that “us versus them”
thinking is toxic and unhealthy to begin with."
To urge people to change away from divisive tribalization
and reconnect with each other compassionately, he turns to the Buddhist
concepts of "Ahimsa" and the "shadow self":
"In the yogic tradition of
India, a crucial quality related to peace consciousness is Ahimsa, usually
translated as non-violence. Ahimsa is associated with Mahatma Gandhi and the
non-violent civil rights movement associated with Martin Luther King. But at
heart Ahimsa is about the bond of loving compassion that is natural in each of
us when we abandon the seductive allure of false consciousness, in particular
the state of separation that engenders all divisions, either inside ourselves
or in the outside world. We accept “us versus them” ultimately because there is
a “them” inside ourselves. It consists of the shadow self we hide from and
deny, which harbors hatred, fear, aggression, and the dread of death."
Trump, he figures, has brought out the tribalized worst in
people by embodying and connecting with their shadow selves:
"When we can’t face our own
shadow, it gets embodied in figures like Trump who gleefully let the dark side
of human nature romp in public. As much as right-thinking people are appalled
by him, Trumpism strikes a chord in everyone, because we all have a
shadow."
In conclusion, Chopra recommends a process of healing — one
that involves achieving an enlightened consciousness:
"It may seem as if I’ve drawn
a tenuous thread connecting a flamboyant political sham to something deep in
human nature. But the connection is real, and so is the possibility of healing.
Bringing in the light, however you define that phrase, is the way to become
part of the solution instead of part of the problem. The wounds in
consciousness can only be healed through consciousness."
As I indicated, that is a bit too new-age for me to think it
could be very effective. But at least he is offering what amounts to a
systematic viewpoint, based on a good understanding of what tribalism is like
and what it does to people's thoughts and actions.
To read for yourself, go here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/after-trump-what-will-it-_b_12841976.html
[I posted an earlier write-up of this reading on my Facebook
page, on April 7.]
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