A Case for Tribalism

A Case for Tribalism
by Swain Wodening
Taken from his book: Þéodisc Geléafa “The Belief of the Tribe:”
A Handbook on Germanic Heathenry and Theodish Belief

In the history of Mankind, nearly every government or institution resembling a government has eventually failed. No governmental form has seemed capable of lasting more than a few hundred years, with only a few exceptions. Democracy with all its touted values has failed to be stable. Even governmental forms that have lasted thousands of years such as that of the Egyptian pharaohs eventually failed. Indeed, the only human social structure that has lasted is that of the tribe. Tribes have existed for as long as there has been written history. Of course, the cultures that recorded the tribes portray them as barbarians, as being somehow inferior (despite the fact the tribal society may be more technologically advanced in some aspects). As long as a people remained tribal, barring conquest, famine, or epidemic, they survived. Tribalism is perhaps the longest lasting, perhaps most stable social institution envisioned by Man.

There are many definitions of what a tribe is. The most basic is, “a people.” Another basic one might be, “a tribe is a community of individuals.” A dictionary definition is, “Any aggregate of people united by ties of descent from a common ancestor, community of customs and traditions, adherence to the same leaders, etc. (Random House Webster?s College Dictionary, Random House, New York 1997). All of these definitions have one common element, people or the folk. In order for individuals to form a people or a folk, a tribe, it requires that something unite them. There are no tribes of one. Further, there must be reasons that they unite in such a way to form a tribe.

Tribalism, unlike most forms of social order and governance is almost instinctive. The other great apes also form similar social orders. Chimpanzees organize themselves into communities. These communities are 40 individuals or larger (depending on the area), and break down into smaller groups of up to six that travel together. The social order is one of hierarchy. The males order themselves in degrees of influence or power within the community with one male as the alpha. Gorillas have a similar social order. There is the silverback, one mature male that serves as the alpha. A troop?s size ranges from 2 to 35 individuals. Generally, only the alpha male mates. Gibbons do not group in large groups, but in families with the parents and the children. Orangutans are about the only species of apes, which do not sort themselves into a family or near tribal structure. There, the males are solitary while the females head small family groups. Other primates such as the baboon also organize themselves into groups. For the baboon, this means males and females in one group with an alpha male. Overall, their social organization is not much different from chimpanzees.

Now, most will look at this, and say, “We have evolved far beyond the other primates.” However, consider, can you survive in the wild? If you go by who has better chances of surviving in the wild, using only the resources available, the other primates, much less the other great apes, are as advanced, if not more so than we are. This is perhaps why other social structures fail. In the long run, they do not address the one key need of all humans, the need to survive. Other social structures than the tribe may address prosperity of all for a while, but eventually the wealth lands in the hands of a few. Non-tribal societies may address security for a while, but again, even that may fail as the privileged cease to care about the safety of the common man. Only the tribe has seemed to thrive as a social structure for Man on this planet. Although its social structure may differ from people to people, one essential element remains. That essential element is the family as a base unit.

The most basic unit of the tribe is the family. According to scholar Edward Goldsmith in his work, The Stable Society, the family is perhaps the earliest social organization in the history of Man (The Stable Society, The Wadebridge Press, 1978). The family in some form is nearly universal amongst humans save for a few exceptions. Even in societies where the family plays a less important role, it still exists, at least to nurture the young at their earliest ages. One can see the advantages of a strong family, even in modern society, where its position has been compromised. Perhaps, because the position of the family has been degraded, modern society is best at showing what happens when people have no family. Persons without families or having grown up without a family are more likely to have mental illnesses, commit suicide, commit violent crimes, or fall into the trap of addictions (not limited to drugs, alcohol, and sex addictions).

Also nearly universal according to Goldsmith, is the community, a group of families living together. This community may be divided into clans (which are extended families as a larger unit), the family, and community. Clans then make up the tribe (ibid). This is the most basic social structure of Mankind. Families form the basis for human social order. However, families do not always survive on their own, and there is a need to marry outside the family. Therefore, communities form. If these communities grow large, clans form as another unit, between the community and the family. If the community grows large enough, tribes form (communities united together).

Not a few scholars feel that society disintegrates without a social structure such as this. Durkheim felt that modern nation states are unstable because they fail to recognize the need for there to be an organized hierarchy of groups and subgroups. Further, he felt society could only be built from smaller groups amongst whom there were effective bonds. And, this was necessary for the well being of individuals, not just society at large (Emile Durkheim, “The solidarity of occupational groups”. Talcott Parsons (ed.), Theories of Society, The Free Press, New York,1970).

Tribalism, because its basis lies ultimately in the family, addresses the issues of the society and the individual. In societies that still have strong family bonds, you do not see the crime, drug abuse, or suicide rates of those without. As a society loses family bonds its crime rate rises. This is reflected in the United States own history. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, girls without a father are two and a half times likely to get pregnant, while boys without fathers are 63 per cent more likely to run away and 37 per cent more likely to use drugs. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993). In a study done in New Orleans hospitals, 80 percent of children admitted as psychiatric patients had no fathers. In another study, children with emotional support from a family as opposed to the structure provided by a teacher had fewer behavioral problems (NICHD, Child Development Vol. 74, Number 6. November/December, 2003). Another study linked the rise in crime to the rise in out of wedlock births from 1974 to 1995 (Mackey and Coney, “Human Sex Ratios as a Function of the Woman?s Psychodynamics ? a Preliminary Study,” Ethology and Sociobiology, 8, 49-60). The family is not an option for a society, but a necessity. Without the family, all social order starts to unravel. Therefore, any social structure that does not encourage the family or use it as the basis for its structure is bound for failure. Modern republics such as the United States place emphasis on the individual, and a rise in crime, mental illness, and drug reflects that overemphasis on the individual. Communism saw a similar result, as does half a dozen other forms of social order that do not involve the family.

Beyond the family, the tribe better addresses the needs of the community. Because tribes tend to be local, the very people involved make decisions on local issues. Some national government far away with no real involvement does not decide on them. How many times, has Congress decided to place a dam where it is not wanted? How many times have state legislatures placed prisons where a community does not want them, but ignores those that do desire them? Modern government, with all its commotion about protecting human rights, is in reality, very impersonal. That is not to say the nation state is a failure. It is to say that perhaps a nation state should be composed of tribes. The current subdivisions of the federal and state governments of the United States are irrelevant to the needs of the local people. Every eight or so years, areas are “redistricted” according to the needs of the Constitution, a peace of paper that was intended to look out for the needs of the people, but has been compromised. Even when it was not compromised, its criteria for its Congressional districts were based on population, not community. The smallest unit the Constitution addressed was the state. Sadly, today?s mobility of individuals caused by corporate America (managerialism at its finest), would prevent tribes from forming in any form naturally, be it the tribes of old, or the farming communities of one hundred years ago.

Theodish Belief therefore attempts to form tribes intentionally. These tribes are not political in nature; they would still exist within the nation state. However, the hopes are that Þéodisc Geléafa can bring back the benefits of the closeness of community the tribe provided. By encouraging a natural social order based on families, and other units of social organization with personal bonds, the pitfalls of a modern society with weak familial bonds can be avoided. The basis for Theodish Belief is the mægð , the sibb , the dryht , and the gild. The mægð is the modern nuclear family. The sibb is the extended family. The dryht would have been a warband in the days of old, its individual bonded together by hold oaths. Today it is more like a martial arts dojo (albeit with religious practices as well), its members practicing both ancient and modern European martial arts, and worshipping together. A gild is like a dryht in that its members are bonded together for hold oaths, but it is formed for other purposes such as practicing a craft or profession. Both the dryht and the gild are seen as artificial families or brotherhoods. The theod would be the union of these social units. All have a common cultural identity, common history, as well as shared customs, traditions, and religion. It is these things that unite them into a theod, and helps them to reap the benefits of the unity of a tribe. To form an even closer bond, many theods of Theodish Belief use what is called the web of oaths. Every person is connected to some one else either through a hold oath or by blood or adoption with these oaths accumulating at its apex in the leader of the tribe.