Tribal Living

Tribal Living

As post 9/11 Americans, we've spent a lot of time claiming unity and community while we waive our bloodstained flags with pride. Our sense of union is a warm fuzzy at most while we watch the evening news, but in reality is choked by the hate and fear that is instilled in us by the "Great State." It is comparable to the church, we go to be spiritual one day a week and live like hell the other six days, making the trip in vain. I want to attempt to unravel the bandages and let the scales fall from blinded eyes so we can see what true community is. The government in place can only lead to more disappointments and less comradery. I plan to expose big American bureaucracy that leaves many in a very closed off, narcissistic lifestyle, and find solutions in more concentrated forms of rule, so we can achieve unity through a more communal process.

The first observation can be made from the comfort of our cars. Weíve all seen the star-striped flags on the rear windows of other vehicles on the road, but try to pass and youíll catch a great big finger from the front. Why is this? Why do we not sponsor the motto, "Live and let live?" Washington calls for one voice against terrorism and has used it as license to kill anyone who slightly threatens that voice. We are the biggest threat to the world, only it has become our manifest destiny to be its peace holder. We go and enforce our way of life, leaving other nations in ruins while our own homes lay in more destructive, less obvious ruin. We lack community and social obligation. Our era is often characterized by individualism (Firat and Venkatesh, 1993), which is the logical conclusion when government is impersonal, and the only way of being noticed is by taking personal action to show our own existence, our own difference (Elliot, 1997). The faÁade that is our American unity will not hold back the waters, and will only lead to a more detached, self-absorbed society.

One of the most visible consequences of a nation turning to individualism is a lack of social interaction. With technology increasing, and products and services right behind, many are freed from tasks that would have previously required their confrontations with others. The internet has made it so that shopping, paying bills, and even conversing can be done by punching a few keys (all this weíve known for years).