Review of
Instaread Summary of Tribe On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
Five out of five stars
Given that
human societies were tribal for hundreds of thousands of years before there
were organized cities, it is natural to conclude that being part of a tribal
social organization is a fundamental part of human psychology. The tribal
society is much more egalitarian, with more sharing and striving for common
betterment.
Junger uses the examples of societies at war as well
as the alienation that returning veterans in the United States feel. They are a
small minority of the population, leave and sacrifice and then come back to a
society that largely ignores ignores them. Junger uses the example of Israel,
the society that most closely resembles a tribal society in constant danger.
Most Israelis serve in the military, so they come back to a society that generally
understands their situation. Therefore, the level of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) is much lower among Israeli veterans.
This summary
contains a set of logical positions regarding the value of a feeling of
belonging and how the lack of role and purpose can lead to psychological
problems among veterans. Some of the examples used involve the people of the U.
S. territory of Guam as well as Native Americans, referred to as American
Indians in the book. This term was used at the insistence of one of the
participants in the data gathering process.
The primary
conclusion of the book is that the more tribal and egalitarian a society, the lower
the level of severe psychological disorders such as depression and PTSD. This
summary gives enough detailed explanation of the thesis of the book to convince
all people with an interest in the topic that they will benefit from reading
it.
This book was made available for free for review
purposes.
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