All the trouble in the world...

A news story I heard this morning - about the cruelly unsuccessful forced urbanization of Bedouins in Israel - started me thinking again about something that has occurred to me on and off before.

I think probably all, but for sure at least ninety per cent, of the trouble in the world can be attributed to nation-states' attempts to impose national structure on basically tribal societies.

From the macro view, it explains so much. A tribe is from a relatively circumscribed geographic area. The members are relatively homogeneous in physical appearance, morals, ethics, mores and behavior. Tribes are suspicious, often to the point of fatal hostility, of non-members (if the stories are true, think of how many tribes' names for themselves translated simply to "people" and their names for other groups to "not people.")

Think of:

The former Yugoslavia - fine while Tito and the Soviet Union were around to keep the lid on, but as soon as those control factors disappeared, all the former tribes started right back in killing each other. And they'd had a number of years in forced proximity to incubate their animosity.

Greeks and Turks - they have at least reached a mutual accommodation now, but for years, this was one of the most deadly feuds in the world.

Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland - again, while there is a (so far) long-standing cease-fire, these two groups spent decades attempting to wipe each other out.

The continent of Africa - sadly, many populations of Africa seem dedicated to starving, blowing up, killing with thirst, shooting, and otherwise wiping out most of the rest of the continent. The Hutu/Tutsi conflict, the warlords in Somalia, and the genocide in Darfur are all, I think, the result of a basically tribal mentality, which says that those who are "not like us" must be exterminated, since they may be dangerous. But nation-states like to deal with other nation-states, so all these tribes must be jammed into countries, like jigsaw puzzle pieces being smashed into spaces where they don't really fit.

The longest-running feud of all (at least to modern memory), the Arab-Jew conflict - this is truly a tribal war in every sense of the words, and has been going on apparently for the length of recorded history.

The Mexico/U.S. immigration disagreement - stay with me here, because this is one of those situations that gets complicated in the details. In the U.S., European settlers followed the Protestant/Norse/Germanic pattern with the indigenous inhabitants: burn them out, run them off, or kill them. In Mexico, settlers followed the Roman/Catholic (not Roman Catholic) pattern: assimilate and exploit. That means that, in Mexico, there are numerous descendants of native tribes who were accustomed to wandering around their territories with no boundaries, no limits, and no restrictions. In the U.S. there is a population that believes strongly in boundaries, limits and restrictions, especially where territory is concerned. Mexicans don't really see any difference between this side of the Río Grande and that, so if things aren't going well on this side, no problem - go to that side. To the U.S., the WHOLE POINT is that there is a huge difference between this side and that side, and if you want to come to this side, you need to follow the rules. This is exacerbated by the fact that so often Mexicans look - um, well, different. They speak, you know, a different language. They're not like us. Probably dangerous.

Red states/blue states - possibly an extreme application of this theory, but it still has possibilities. To red staters, blue staters talk funny, dress funny, eat strange food, make fun of "us," think they're so smart, want to keep "us" from driving what "we" want to, won't let "us" pray even when "we" want to, try to keep God out of the public debate, and on and on. To blue staters, red staters talk funny, dress funny, eat strange (and unhealthy) food, want to make "us" go to church and pray even if "we" don't want to, insist on driving gas-guzzling exhaust-belchers and defiling the earth, air and water, want to put God and the preacher in "our" bedrooms, and on and on. To red staters and blue staters, the others are not like us. Probably dangerous.

Tribal differences. All the trouble in the world. And I think things won't get better until we start to understand that the tribal mentality is basic to human behavior - probably hardwired into us - and figure out ways to deal with it.