The Tribe Has Spoken
The Country Teeters on the Brink Not Because of Principle, But Because of Tribalism....and a Big Orange Goblin
Gather around kids for a bedtime story.
In the way, way back, in the long, long ago, we used to have these things called “principles.” They were ideas and mantras we used to live by, they would guide us to do what we thought was right, and we would do our best not to be hypocritical about them. “Not being hypocritical” means that when we stand by a principle, then it doesn’t matter who it is (whether it’s us, or someone who isn’t with us), we apply the same standards to that person that we would to any other. If we’re hypocritical, then we don’t apply the principles consistently, and let some people get by with breaking them.
Principles are important, because our entire value system and the underpinnings of the ‘rule of law’ all derive from a common understanding of our agreed to principles. Principles result in predictability, and ensures everyone follows the rules regardless of power or status. For any society to work, there has to be a common agreement as to what rules they are going to live by. It’s called a “social contract” and if it is applied equally, across all people impartially, then the Rule of Law will prevail.
When it came to our politics, we were always a divided country, but you could usually rely on a large enough contingent from both sides to abide by these core basic principles, for the good of the country. Sometimes these principles clashed with one another and it took time to work out how we would need to compromise on these beliefs so we could all get along, but we usually did in some ways, and the country was better for it, and we moved on. They would work out their differences because above all else, everyone realized the most important principles were that 1) we were all Americans and ultimately on the same side and 2) the Rule of Law is important and should be respected.
Now, there were always people who cared less about principles, and only about their side of things. They acted like crybabies always whining, or hometown fans always complaining about the refs. They don’t care about the rules, or fairness, or justice, or equality, or empathy. They only care about their side winning, at all costs. They are exceptionally hypocritical; they will complain about someone doing something and then ignore it when someone on their side does the exact same thing.
Quite often, the tribe winning comes into conflict with their most sacred beliefs. It used to be that those principles were so strong, that they would relent and still adhere to those principles. For instance if they were opposed to adultery as a principle, and their leaders had cheated on their wives with a mistress, they would call them out and shun them as they would any other person.1 The principle was stronger, which made the tribe ultimately stronger. But over time, winning became more important, and they would sacrifice these principles for the sake of being on the winning side for the short term; or in the least, the side everyone else they knew were on, lest they get kicked out of the tribe. Defending the people in the tribe from shame was now more important than principles, and not going along with it was considered shameful.
Until one day a Big Orange Goblin arose in one of America’s tribes, and tested the limits of this. The Big Orange Goblin was the single biggest hypocrite ever. One by one he questioned, ignored or flat out contradicted many of this tribe’s founding principles, and one by one those principles fell for that tribe. He would point to the other tribe and label every questionable thing they did as heresy, especially their leader. Yet more often then not those same things applied to him, usually moreso, and he brushed it off as if nothing, and the tribe went along with him. His hypocrisy became the tribe’s hypocrisy.
He’d be called out for every lie he made by the news media, and instead of acknowledging them, he called the media liars instead, and the tribe bought it. They went along with everything to the point the tribe no longer had any core principles and had become a hollowed out cadaver of itself. The growing hypocrisy was doing long term damage to the tribe. However, by some sad miracle, to the surprise of all, that Goblin won the Presidency of America!
As President, he no longer was content to just warp and remove the tribe’s principles, he started questioning the COUNTRY’S principles. He directly called into question and opposed Freedom of Speech and of the Press, he shunned our nation’s historical sympathy for refugees fleeing conflict, he broke contracts and treaties we had with our friends, and he openly opposed the most basic and cherished American virtue, democracy. Worst of all, he severely damaged America’s ability to apply the Rule of Law, the most basic principle of any society. And his tribe went along with him. The tribe’s hypocrisy became AMERICA’S hypocrisy.
But members of the other tribe fought back and when the overall American Tribe spoke they rose up and kicked him out of the Presidency. But the Big Orange Goblin didn’t accept that. First, he tried to undo the election by the American Tribe, then he tried to outright overthrow it. Then, out of office, he ignored the Rule of Law continuously, until he decided to try and be President again, so he could undo it altogether. And his tribe, now a shell of it’s former self went along with it. The damage was near complete, and the Big Orange Goblin had created a cancer on this country.
So a big face off will occur in 2024 between the American tribes, with one tribe wanting to adhere to the principles that made America great and the other tribe whose only guiding principle was to defend and support a Big Orange Goblin. The fate of the entire world is held in the balance. Which side wins matters, but in reality, America will never be the same afterwards. We have lost respect in the eyes of the world, and are a lesser country for even entertaining the whims of a Big Orange Goblin.
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A warning, from Yeats.
As long as we’r talking above about hypocrites, one of my favorite literary anecdotes about hypocrisy came from Dante. Dante placed hypocrites deep in the pits of hell in the Eighth Circle (there are only nine), in an area reserved for frauds called “malebolge.” He saw hypocrisy as a perversion of intellect, and therefore a greivous sin. Their punishment is to walk around in these sparkling, glittery cloaks, but they are really just lined with lead, the weight slowing them down. Throughout the Eighth Circle of the Inferno, Dante observes the damned form a perch higher up and sees them all in these various pits called “bolgia.” However, Dante was recognized as a human and chased by demons; to escape, he lowered himself down into the pit with the hypocrites, acknowledging he himself was guilty of that sin.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
Apocalyptic and Dystopian stories have largely been en vogue since 9/11. You had a rash of zombie films/shows, and shows post-apocalypse where societies came to an end. You had renewed interest in books like “1984” and “A Handmaid’s Tale” which demonstrate societies warped by politics and tribes.
During the 1980s, most people believed that the biggest cause of the collapse of society would be World War III/ nuclear war.
During the early 2000s, the most popular answer was global terrorism.
In 2020, the most popular cause….worldwide pandemic.
The main point, is that our biggest fear of how the world ends is often whatever is the biggest issue shaping the news of the day.
My hunch for what it’ll be in 2030? AI.
PurpleAmerica Cultural Criticism Corner
In the long, long ago…
Footnotes and Parting Thoughts
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See Jimmy Swiggert, James Bakker, and many, many politicians.