With the heat of political rhetoric spewing out of the convention halls and the passion of fall football in the air, I can’t help wondering about the source of our all-too-human need to defend our own tribe and to defeat the enemy at our gates.
I’m a sports fan, but I guess you’d call me a fair weather fan because I can ignore the victories and defeats of any of my favorite teams if I’ve been too busy to keep track of them for a while, especially if I don’t recognize many of the current players. But once I’ve watched a couple of games, something switches inside me and it seems hugely important whether they win or lose.
There is something deep in our DNA that causes us to identify ourselves as part of a tribe. Guess it goes back to our caveman days when we had to band together to fight off marauders—animal, human and everything in between.
Politics is like that. When we feel threatened by a political group out to defeat our favorite candidates, the adrenaline starts flowing and we’re ready to pull out the old club to defend our brood.
I’m not saying this tribal instinct is good or bad. I don’t think we could do anything to change it even if we wanted to. But it’s worth remembering that the people in the other tribe have the same instinct toward self-preservation and the same visceral adrenaline response when they feel their village is about to be attacked.
The woods are going to be filled with Neanderthals between now and November 6th.
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