The 2008-9 Premier League season was notable in particular for the performance of Derby County FC. Derby scored the least amount of points of any Premier League team since the introduction of 3 points for a win (the record still stands). They won 1 match, lost 29 (both Premier League records) and drew 8 and amassed a grand total of 11 points. They also scored the least goals in the League (20) and conceded the most (89).
And yet, as they watched their team on the wrong end of a weekly drubbing, their loyal supporters sung the song sang by all supporters of English Football Teams…..
“And it’s Derby County…. Derby County FC…. they’re by far the greatest team.… the world has ever seen…..”
To which any rational person might respond: “Errrm, there was a decent Brazil team once. Y’know with Pele and Rivelino and Jairzinho.” But tribalism isn’t rational – not when it leads you to the conviction that Robbie Savage is the new Maradona.
Sociologists posit that we all belong to tribes – most of us, to several. We belong via biology, nationality, education, employment, activities, behaviours and by choice (such as football allegiance).
In most spheres, our tribal ‘belonging’ acts as a positive affirmation of who we are and a celebration of what we hold in common with others. Our tribes act as mini ‘families’ giving us a sense of belonging and togetherness. In many ways, our tribes add positively to our sense of identity and they provide additional meaning to our lives.
However, there can be negative, anti-social and destructive elements to our tribalism – especially once it moves from a celebration of who we are (alongside other sisters and brothers) to a belief that our tribe is superior – and, ipso facto, that the ‘other’ tribe is inferior. This ideology of superiority is central to racism, sexism/patriarchy, homophobia and other forms of prejudice.
We see how the harmless, if deluded, claims of Derby County being the greatest team the world has ever seen quickly turn on the other tribes, the ‘opponents’. ‘My tribe is best’ becomes ‘You’re shit and you know you are’ and, ultimately, ‘You’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in.’ We can see this in the violent terrorism of white supremacists as we have seen it in humanity’s darkest moments of Nazism and fascism.
It is apparent to me that modern tribalism has taken a turn for the worst. It has more often moved from the celebratory and familial to the notion of superiority and, from there, to hatred, persecution and violence. It is also evident that tribalism has been weaponised by political ideologies and by the media. The seemingly exponential growth of populist nationalism has been based upon the exploitation of people’s tribalism. The election of ‘populist’ right wing leaders across the world has been predicated upon people’s sense of national identity: our ‘exceptionalism’ is, in reality, a belief in our superiority. Of course, the nationalism (or ‘false patriotism’ as I call it) hasn’t stopped at exceptionalism: it has moved all too swiftly to the denigration and hatred of the ‘other’, stoking fear, prejudice and hatred.
The other significant trait in Populist Nationalism is the side-lining and dismissal of facts and truth, coupled with the related denunciation of ‘experts’ and even of science. This is visible in such things as climate change denial and the anti-vaccination movement. It was also a significant element of, or weapon in, the campaign to leave the EU – hence, despite all the evidence and the facts, people still to this day believe that our economy will be better off after we leave the EU and that such a thing as a ‘Brexit Dividend’ actually exists!
The increasing and very apparent danger is that our world has become politically polarised. It’s an oft-noted phenomenon and one which has clearly been exacerbated by social media algorithms which show us more of what we click on and ‘like’ (purely to profit). Each of us is therefore driven to reading and watching more and more things which confirm our political allegiance and bias. At the same time, we become even more convinced that the other tribe must be mad, deluded, gullible or intellectually inferior. This is an extremely dangerous situation for society and for the world as a whole.
I believe that there are two types of modern political belief systems: one is based upon the interests of the billionaires and the big corporations (who control most of the media and politicians) and who try to convince us that capitalism and Neoliberalist free-market economics are inherently good and the greatest way to organise society, over and above democracy; the other is based upon the notion that greed, inequality, poverty, divisiveness and exploitation of both people and the planet’s resources – all of which are symptoms if not central tenets of modern capitalism – are not the best way to organise society and that our system should be based upon such things as greater equality, democracy, fairness, anti-discrimination and justice.
But then I would say that!
The stimulus for exploring this was that, like many, I continue to be utterly astounded by the people, including friends, who are still pledging their support for this government’s actions…… despite everything we know. But there’s the point: what I know and what they know is entirely different! What I read and watch and hear is entirely different from what they do! Our biases are confirmed on a daily basis. We are in different tribes…… and each of us is fed our own propaganda. Mine obviously comes from evidence and facts and from decent journalists who are not in the pay of the billionaires. Theirs comes from the propaganda of billionaires and special interests who support the Conservatives as they wish to continue paying no tax and to continue having the optimum conditions for capitalist accumulation (profit-making through exploitation).
But then…. I would say that too!
The latest ‘League Table’ of Coronavirus testing rates amongst a host of developed countries shows the UK occupying ‘the Derby County position’. And yet, friends are posting of the ‘outstanding’ approach by our government and re-posting The Sun’s front page declaring it a ‘Good Friday’ as Boris Johnson leaves intensive care, despite another 881 distinctly unmentioned deaths. Their tribe have scored! Never mind that it’s purely a consolation goal and the score is 881-1, they’re gonna sing that their government is by far the greatest government the world has ever seen.
This brings me neatly on to the ‘crap!’ It is clear that the propaganda of the rich and powerful is the means by which ordinary people have been persuaded to vote for things (politicians and policies) which are very bad for them – both economically and socially. It’s tempting to blame the recipients for being gullible or for not exploring other forms of media and uncovering the truth. Someone once said that English people think about politics…. but they don’t think about it enough! But blaming ordinary people does a number of things: it makes you sound pompous and arrogant; it tends to reinforce their beliefs and entrench them further due to our psychological response to criticism; and it even excludes them. As a wise friend recently reminded me, we should blame the liars, not the lied to!
It is abundantly clear to me that the answer lies in education – and not only of children! For the past five years, Finland have taken the lead in educating their entire population on the dangers of ‘fake news’ and propaganda and are already reaping enormous benefits.
It is now 32 years since Noam Chomsky wrote Manufacturing Consent and a wider understanding of its central tenets is sorely needed. Likewise, it is some 51 years since Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner wrote my favourite book ‘Teaching As A Subversive Activity’. In it, they quote Ernest Hemingway thus: “In order to be a great writer a person must have a built-in, shockproof crap-detector” and they argue that education should “cultivate just such people – experts at ‘crap detecting.’”
It is high time that we built a new tribe – one which is educated to resist and reject the propagandised interests of the billionaires and the big corporations. One which puts people and the planet before profits. We need a population of ‘crap detectors’ and we need it fast……
….before ‘hashtag Robbie Savage for PM’ becomes a thing!
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I’d like to thank everyone who has read this and hope you will watch the short film in the attached article which summarises Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent.
Tom Lane
