Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
“’Whether…civilization has most promoted or most injured the general happiness of man is a question that may be strongly contested’’…”’[Both] the most affluent and the most miserable of the human race are to be found in the countries that are called civilized.’”
“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary.”
“’In effect, humans have dragged a body with a long hominid history into an overfed, malnourished, sedentary, sunlight-deficient, sleep-deprived, competitive, inequitable, and socially-isolating environment with dire consequences.’”
“’We are not good to each other. Our tribalism is to an extremely narrow group of people, our children, our spouse, maybe our parents. Our society is alienating, technical, cold, and mystifying. Our fundamental desire, as human beings, is to be close to others, and our society does not allow for that.’”
Tribe is about how our Western society could be doing a lot better. It talked about tribal societies and the good of the group over the individual. Sacrifice and thinking of shared humanity versus differences was a huge topic. Also, how disaster and war bringing people together could have its benefits. This was a nonfiction book that was critical of our world today especially in Europe and the US. It was interlaced with anecdotes and stories from various people on their feelings and thoughts on hardship, mental health, and the common good. It talks about how modern society doesn’t have the common good in mind and can create a host of problems as a trade off for the good things.
Sebastian Junger wrote this book. I am not sure how I feel about it to be honest. There were some viewpoints that were put forth that I found a little iffy. The first thing was how he referred to Indigenous People as Indians or American Indians and how he used the term civilization as an opposing descriptive word. It felt very antiquated and made me a little uncomfortable throughout the book. It is as if Indigenous People can only be talked about in relation to the USA or what we deem as modern society. They were here first. I question statements like “Virtually all of the Indian tribes…practiced deeply sickening forms of torture.” Some things I did find agreeable were his conversation around billionaires and the negatives of our current way of living. Sebastian wrote about modern society creating more mental health issues and “a desperate cycle of work, financial obligation, and more work.” I think his main point was how we have gotten so individualistic and materialistic instead of focusing on the common good with a tribal mentality. People can survive by themselves now instead of relying on a group for food and protection but it can create loneliness. “Financial independence can lead to isolation, and isolation can put people at a greatly increased risk of depression and suicide.” The part around how we put extrinsic values ahead of intrinsic was interesting. The three basic things humans need to be content are a “need to feel competent at what they do; they need to feel authentic in their lives; and they need to feel connected to others.” Another topic I was ambivalent about was the dishonesty and fraud portion. He talked about how people cheat social welfare programs but also talked about how people and corporations get away with it. There was no accountability for the collapse in 2008 and companies getting bailouts were still giving out bonuses. In modern society, it is easier to get away with dishonesty whereas in the past with smaller tribes it could spell disaster for the group. We tend to put business ahead of humanity. The author also talked a lot about war and disasters. One quote I liked a lot when referring to a war between France and Britain where a lighthouse was proposed to be destroyed. “’Sir,’ an English admiral reminded the king, ‘we are at war with the French, not the entire human race.’” Some people are good and think bigger than themselves. He then goes on to talk about PTSD and how people can fake it but that we don’t take care of veterans like we should. This part was hard for me to grasp his point. He also talked about the United States in particular at the end. How we have such contempt and critiques of our fellow citizens. It was a fair argument. We are pitted against each other. Lastly, the thing I noticed about halfway through reading was the fact that he put a picture of himself on the cover. Not very representative of the common good or tribe mentality. This is exactly the type of book to read if you want to shake your head in disagreement and frustration but also nod your head in agreement and hope every couple of pages.
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