Reader warns against tribalism

Political pundit, Norm Ornstein, says our American society has become a tribal society. We have divided ourselves into camps of like-minded people who see everyone outside our camp as enemies. "If you're for it, I'm against it," is the thinking that characterizes tribalism. We end up speaking past other people, not to other people.

Tribalism takes the place of rational, constructive decision-making based on collaborative discussion and debate. It results in people agreeing that the issue or policy supported by a certain candidate has merit, but voting against the candidate anyway, simply because of his/her "tribal" identity. Tribe trumps truth.

Where, in our American educational system, the American family, and the religious community, are our children, the next generation of Americans, being taught and equipped to resist and overcome this socially and politically debilitating dynamic of tribalism?

Ron Moen

Quincy