Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

A concise and persuasive case about the paradox of progress in modern, Western societies. In this case, Junger gestures toward the ways in which human beings, evolutionarily hardwired for cooperation and fellow feeling, have become increasingly estranged, isolated, and depressed amidst the many amenities of twenty-first century life. He argues that humans in "tribal" societies (his focus here being primarily on the !Kung and American Indian tribes) thrived on deep social connections because such relationships were vital to group survival. By comparison an individual in twenty-first century America could feasibly go through an entire day without having meaningful social interaction with another person. For the most part, people have superficial interactions with clerks, attendants, and cashiers throughout their day.

That brings Junger to his real point in writing this short treatise. What happens to warriors in societies that are both removed from the realities of war (and, indeed, seem not to care at all) and are simultaneously isolating? He suggests that PTSD and veteran suicide are but two consequences of a general malaise that affects America's veterans upon their reintegration into civilian society. Unlike the Israelis where military service is all but universal and some 1-2% of military veterans suffer long-term psychic disability, veteran hood in post-1973 America is the rare exception. Just look at Congress, and try to figure out absent John McCain how many of our political figures have ANY form of military service. That Israel marshals almost all of its society into military service and the United States does not is beside the real point Junger is making—America allows no room in social and cultural discourses for veterans (esp. combat veterans) to vent, feel understood, and experience a sense of belonging. A man or woman discarding the uniform in Israel, by turn, could expect that not only would members of their immediate family intuitively know what it meant to serve, but a broad swathe of their communities and the public. Here again, Junger returns to "tribal" societies where, he contends, warriors were fully integrated members of communities and even underwent collective rituals of cleansing and purification with non-combatants upon the cessation of hostilities. Add to that that war and peace in these societies were less dichotomous "periods" but fluid, overlapping realities.

Junger also turns to his personal experience as a war correspondent to reflect that societies become tighter-knit during periods of extreme duress and crisis. In Bosnia, Junger describes how someone spray-painted "It was better when it was really bad" on a brick wall, suggesting that in post-war Bosnia solidarity and fellow feeling never again reached the heights it did during the war. From my personal experience, I can recall that during Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina the crisis of unprecedented flooding and natural disaster in Rocky Mount brought most people together in ways that were impossible during normal times--which I think is precisely Junger's point.

There's a lot to be said about such a small book. I think Junger is on to something here although he may be a journalist by trade. His evidentiary base is solid and well-researched in the appropriate fields. Highly recommended for a quick read, especially during a period when our politics, culture, and society seems ever more fragmented, polarized, and hostile.