"Tribe" by Sebastian Junger

King George III of England caused the English colonies in America to rebel by trying to tax them without allowing them a voice in government. In this sense, democratic revolutions are just a formalized version of the sort of group action that coalition of senior males have used throughout the ages to confront greed and abuse. Thomas Paine, one of the principal architects of American democracy, wrote a formal pronunciation of civilization in a tract called Agrarian Justice: “Whether…civilization has most promoted or most injured the general happiness of man is a question that may be strongly contested,” he wrote in 1795. "[Both] the most affluent and the most miserable of the human race are to be found in the countries that are called civilized."

I got this from Tribe, Sebastian Junger's latest 2016 book. It's short but very good. Junger's thesis is that modern society, maybe just modern US society but I don't think so, has gotten so far removed from tribal life & community that it's no wonder so many people, perhaps mostly men, feel adrift and alienated and depressed and unmotivated. In tribal life, such as the indigenous people in North American, everyone had a purpose. First, men needed to defend the tribe and they knew this was a primary responsibility of each one of them. They also had to hunt and gather and bring food back for the tribe (and not just to their own family). Men felt necessary and needed and a vital piece of their tribe/community. Women had children to replenish the tribe and prepare food for the tribe (again, not just their own family). Everyone lived in a definite community, they all knew each other, they'd grown up together and learned together and fought together and suffered together. There was also a great deal of equality and egalitarianism in their societies. Anyone who tried to get on top would be torn down by the others, as referenced in the quote up top. He writes about the thousands of white people who choose to live with the "Indians," after being abducted or choosing it on their own. Some would be rescued and rush right back to live with their tribe. There were almost no cases of Indians defecting to the other side. 

Another example Junger gives is the Bosnian war. Junger went into Sarajevo and lived amongst the people as Serbs bombed the hell out of the town from the surrounding hills. Very quickly, collections of apartment buildings would come together to share food, commiserate together and take care of one another. Teens huddled amongst themselves in deep underground bunkers and lived with one another, ate together, and laughed and loved together. No one was kept outside the group. He quotes more than one person whom he interviewed 20 years later who called wartime madness but also the best times of their lives. Even a happy time for some. They were in their own tribe and had people to take care of, talk to, be scared with and celebrate with. 

I can admit that both of these are likely simplifications. 

I'm about halfway through the book and am just starting to get into a section about modern warfare and the experiences of the soldiers. Many also recall it as some of their best days. (For example, the WW2 veterans who get together even now to see their buddies and tell their stories, stories they've maybe never shared with anyone else.) Junger cites many scientific studies that show veteran suicide and PTSD are more complex issues and do not appear randomly.

I can't wait to read the second half of this book. I can identify with it in that I also feel adrift and alienated and depressed and unmotivated. I work remotely by myself, and although I live in a suburb I essentially live remotely. I got a taste of what Junger is talking about when I spent five months on the Appalachian Trail in 1996. (I didn't finish the Trail, only hiking 1500 miles because I partially tore two ligaments (I learned later) 500 miles in.) Even though I didn't complete the hike, it was some of the most memorable times of my life, because I had a definite goal, I was motivated, and, believe it or not, there was a tight linear trail community where everyone comes together because we were all suffering and learning together. Many other thru-hikers (who completed the entire 2100-mile trail) would and do say exactly the same thing, even if they can't quite express it. I wish I had anything like that kind of commitment and community today.