#tribalism

#tribalism

Our culture embodies mutually exclusive beliefs in tribalism and individual exceptionalism. Tribalism used to depend on family; over the past millennium, it increasingly has come to depend on wealth and status, with new elite groupings developing every day-now they're called "lifestyles." The economic stratification of America isn't dissimilar to the caste system of India, the main distinction being that Americans believe they have the opportunity to gain more and more status if they put their shoulders to the grindstones and employ good ol' fashioned industriousness.