Americans Reject Tribalism

An insidious byproduct of godless leftism is the denial of individuality in favor of group identity. “Individuality” and “group identity” are gentle 21st century words to describe an ancient and primitive bane of humanity: tribalism. He’s in my tribe; you’re not. He’s good; you’re not.

We’ve written and written again and will no doubt write more about the impossible-to-overstate importance of the spirit of the American Declaration of Independence in advancing humanity beyond all sorts of banes of human existence. It sprang fundamentally out of the God-centered and Judeo-Christian centered worldview of the founders. If God is the creator of man; if all men are created equal in the sight of God; if all men have the same inalienable, God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, there just isn’t a place for tribalism. And if these ideas of the Declaration represent ‘self-evident’ truths, there never will be a place for tribalism in the America of the founding.

The godless leftists of the Obama government are working hard to deny or supersede these self-evident truths. They are pandering to blacks as blacks; to Hispanics as Hispanics; to Asians as Asians; to women as women; but they are never appealing to anyone and everyone as Americans. The DOJ decision not to prosecute the New Black Panther voting rights violations is an example of this; the lawsuit against Arizona is another.

From the earliest days of this site, we’ve linked to Peter Ferrara’s post 9/11 essay “What is an American?” It deserves to be read and re-read as another validation of America’s instinctive rejection of tribalism.

Americans resist and resent definition of themselves in relation to their skin color, gender, parentage, height, weight, hair color, or where they go or don’t go to church on Sunday. They take inspiration from the spirit of the Declaration, and have grown over time to define themselves in relation to it. They have a gut level negative reaction when they sense that any leader is denying that spirit, and inviting them to identify only as a member of some group. That’s among the many reasons why Americans’ gut level reaction to Obama is starting to turn very, very negative. In fact, we’d guess it is this sort of intuitive repulsion to the leftists’ outlook on humanity that is propelling the meltdown of the Obama administration in the eyes of the American public.

Political ‘experts’ like to think everything boils down to ‘jobs and the economy’, which carries with it the corollary that if only the economy would perk up, all the rest of the angst over tribalism, apology tours, denial of America as a Christian nation, tea-parties-are-racists campaigns, etc. would fade away. Try as they may, these experts just can’t quite come to grips with the fact that all of this angst is itself a drag on the spirit of the people. It fosters a dark view of the condition of life and its prospects in America. Darkness depresses hope, depressed hope discourages initiative; discouraged initiative results in economic decline.

The conservative, America-loving political leader who will start talking unambiguously about this scourge of tribalism, and denounce the administration that is fanning it, will strike a powerful chord throughout this nation. He or she will become the front-runner to become the next President. The spirit of the Declaration is that powerful; it is that right; it is that true.

Paul Gable

August 12, 2010