Tribes and factions in America

    At some point, I suppose I will have to try to pass myself off as a member of one tribe or another, or risk exile, or worse.
     We like to think that Americans are an advanced culture, and long past tribalism. Rivalry among tribes, we know, is at the root of the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, Libya and most of the other nations of Africa. We're supposed to be better than that. More enlightened, more sophisticated.
    In spite of that self-assured opinion, we see an awful lot of evidence that Americans really, down deep, need to be identified with a tribe, need to be part of some group that shares our values and -- well, biases.
    Political parties are sort of like tribes. There are unconfirmed reports of some extreme political factions eating their young.
    Some of us are not really given a choice of which tribe we belong to; we are told by media or academics or marketers that we are the Baby Boomer Tribe, the Millennium Generation Tribe, which may have overrun the Gen-X and Generation Y tribes. It's hard to keep up.
     One way to get your bearings and find out what tribe you should be in is to look at your junk mail. Someone knows who you are and where you live.
     Once you are labeled as a member of one tribe, it's hard to get into another tribe.
I wonder what would happen if, say, a member of the Tea Party tribe decided to become a member of the Occupy Wall Street tribe. It might be hard for outsiders to tell one from the other, but I don't think you can be both for long. It would be interested to see if one tribe would absorb the other, the way the conservatives tribe has tried to absorb the teaparty members.

    That can happen; just outlive the other, or get absorbed. Old hippies and flower power tribes eventually morphed into their parents' Establishment tribe, and it's hard to tell them from the AARP and American Legion tribes today, until the arguments break out between those who served in the military and those who never have.
   Most people eventually join some tribe -- for one thing, there's a certain comfort level to be found in a group of like-minded people.
     I suppose I should settle down and pick one.
     On the other hand, it's probably too late for me. Come to think of it, I went into self-exile sometime in the 10th grade, and despite participation in a number of civic organizations, service clubs, rec leagues and even (urrrp!) political office, I have never really been part of a tribe.
     Just a wandering pilgrim on the landscape, an observer at the edge of the campfires.
Just as well:  Someone once told me I ask too many questions to be a good tribe member.