*What is tribalism --TRIBALISM: THE MOST AUTHENTIC DEFINITION OF MAN.*

"In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity."

         -- Erik Erikson, German-American Psychologist/Psychoanalyst and the originator of the theory of "Identity Crisis."

Tribalism is the most authentic definition of MAN. It underscores the essence of MAN. It gives every MAN on the surface of the Earth a quantum of uniqueness. Tribalism is the unassailable edification of MAN.

It is what defines the World for MAN. Tribalism is what defines the sociological milieu for MAN. It is the framework for his cosmological beliefs. Tribalism is the encapsulation of MAN's philosophy about his existence.

Tribalism is the cocoon of culture and traditions without which society would be utterly meaningless, scary and be Hobbesian in a more putrid manner. It gives bold, categorical, distinct, and clear-cut existential guidelines to MAN, whether positive or negative.

Without TRIBALISM, MAN would be lost, rudderless, aimless, with a vacuous spirit. I mean, he would be spiritually vacant and physically, a stray being, (let us not use the word "animal").

Without Tribalism, MAN would be lost. MAN would be worse than a goat. This is because all animals have their own "tribe." In fact, and indeed, the word tribe was first applied to the lower animals before it was elevated to describe and define a community of human beings that share tradition, language and cosmological beliefs.

NATURE is the validation of TRIBALISM. It expresses itself through it. Nature is the attestation to the indispensability of tribalism. It confirms and corroborates tribalism. Tribalism is like an organizer. It put things in order. Tribalism is like a shelve on which things are arranged in categories, or if you prefer, in genres.

To demonize TRIBALISM, is to demonize nature. It is to demonize the human race. It is to make MAN unnecessarily vulnerable and dispensable. It is to turn MAN into a piece of paper in the claws of a whirlwind, without definite character and direction.

Look at our world, see the trauma the human race is going through because of our desire for fakery - a tribal-less humanity. See the damming and damning of progress. Of peace. Of prosperity. Of love. And of affection. 

The human race has become one hubris in its hiatus from Nature. It has become haughty in its desire to subvert Nature. It has become bumptious and blustering in its desire to undercut nature. The human race has been condescending in its desire to conquer nature.

It is desirable to improve our environment. Make the mother nature more nurturing. More motherly. More caring. More sustaining. More protective and be protected in return. If the human race have not done that, the enormous progress of humanity would have been lost. 

But in the course of that, the value and use of nature has been lost on humanity. The application of science and technology has not been rewarding in all spheres of the human race. There are however, some sociological questions that science and technology could explain but really have no answers to. 

Tribalism is one such area, where the human race is engaged in a war that would be lost eventually. This is because MAN is most comfortable in the midst of its likes. 

Despite the great strides in the modern civilization, in the so-called modern cities, tribalism is still conspicuously manifested. We have Caucasian neighborhoods. We have Asian neighborhoods. We have Latino neighborhoods. We have African neighbourhoods. We have Arab neighborhoods. And so on. In the USA for example, these neighborhoods are further broken down into ethnic nationalities, such as Germantowns, Chinatowns, Little Italys, Irishtowns, Indian settlements and so on.  

What is beautiful is the ability to accept these differences in human race and allow the unique identities as defined by Nature via Tribalism to subsist, while we strive to relate with each other. Without Tribalism, the World, and by extension human race would be amorphous. Nebulous. Inchoate.

Without Tribalism, human race would not even be understood or comprehended. It would be one mass of intellectual opaque. It would be a perfect definition of aridity of cultures and traditions and the various contending philosophies that have defined human progress.

Without Tribalism, the World and the human race would present a petrographic challenge for comprehension. What that would have done to history, philosophy, science, and technology out-loops imagination. 

Tribalism is Nature expressed. It is the edification of MAN. It is MAN's essential core. It could not be done away with. Those who demonize Tribalism are oblivious of the power of Nature. Demonization of Tribalism is an expression of "civilized" but deep, as well as searing ignorance. It is ignorance deodorized.

The way forward for true and genuine civilization is to accept our natural differences as defined by Tribalism. Recognizing and accepting our differences are the first steps towards understanding each other and working together. Attempts to change nature as expressed in tribalism would bring misunderstanding, resistance, war, misery and mutual destruction.

*© Rèmí Oyèyemí*