# Do you think America is the most tribalistic culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179 "2018-01-22T04:33:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/1 "2018-01-22T04:33:34Z")
At least in terms of Western civilization I mean the US is an incredibly big melting pot, we have probably the most subcultures and groups out of any country out there. If you say YES, give me a comment on how we can become less tribalistic and have a better sense of community. If you say NO, show me a country more blurred and divisive than us. ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/2 "2018-01-22T04:53:12Z")
1 view still Lol ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/3 "2018-01-22T05:04:43Z")
The 1990s former Yugoslavia. ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/4 "2018-01-22T05:10:40Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The 1990s former Yugoslavia. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/5 "2018-01-22T05:12:38Z")
There are 567 recognized Native American tribes in the United States. But Canada apparently has 600. That would make Canada literally the most tribal Western country in the world, unless there’s some place in Europe that has hundreds of different tribes of indigenous people, which I sincerely doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/6 "2018-01-22T05:25:56Z")
“Melting pot” would be antitribal by definition. The “salad bowl” metaphor has been proposed as a more accurate model of the United States. The main ideological conflict seems to be between the more egalitarian tossists and the more stratified icebergian wedgists. Both of whom are threatened by the radical limejelloists. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/7 "2018-01-22T05:30:28Z")
Guess it depends how you look at the question. Don’t people that do harm to others tend to harm their own tribe? If that’s the case can we really have tribalism? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/8 "2018-01-22T06:04:14Z")
> [@Luciano700](#): > > Huh? He said no and named another culture. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/9 "2018-01-22T09:42:09Z")
By “tribalistic”, maybe you are thinking of this quote: “Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature.” — George Bernard Shaw Surely, nowadays, the Americans are most likely to consider their tribal customs to reflect the laws of nature./ ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/10 "2018-01-22T10:38:45Z")
Before anyone can answer properly, we need a consensus on the definition of “tribe”. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/11 "2018-01-22T11:41:56Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this seems to be looking more for opinions than anything factual, let’s move it to IMHO (from GQ). ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/12 "2018-01-22T14:42:30Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > By “tribalistic”, maybe you are thinking of this quote: > “Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature.” > — George Bernard Shaw > > Surely, nowadays, the Americans are most likely to consider their tribal customs to reflect the laws of nature./ Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/13 "2018-01-22T15:04:15Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > By “tribalistic”, maybe you are thinking of this quote: > “Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature.” > — George Bernard Shaw > > Surely, nowadays, the Americans are most likely to consider their tribal customs to reflect the laws of nature./ You could also go with Kipling: “There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, _and every single one of them is right!_” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/14 "2018-01-22T15:06:19Z")
Japan is worse but I don’t know if they are western. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/15 "2018-01-22T16:16:51Z")
> [@Luciano700](#): > > If you say NO, show me a country more blurred and divisive than us. Not only did a section of Spain vote to secede, but a section of Catalonia has a movement to secede from the secessionists. Look, the question is unbelievably silly. Most countries in the world have these kinds of “tribal” issues. In many cases they have led to actual ongoing civil wars. Even without war, huge internal divisions can be seen in politics and everyday life. I strongly suggest going out and getting a thorough understanding of the 200 other nations in the world before thinking that the U.S. is at some extreme. Ignorance is not a foreign policy. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/16 "2018-01-22T16:41:12Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Japan is worse but I don’t know if they are western. Worse? Worse than what? The OP’s definition of “tribal” is that the country is divided into many different discrete cultures. That doesn’t apply to Japan, does it? Japan is the opposite, it’s close to a monoculture. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/17 "2018-01-22T16:45:19Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Worse? Worse than what? > > The OP’s definition of “tribal” is that the country is divided into many different discrete cultures. That doesn’t apply to Japan, does it? Japan is the opposite, it’s close to a monoculture. It absolutely applies. Japanese society is very hostile towards non-Japanese Asians. There’s also the issue of [burakumin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin). Being almost “monoculture” makes things worse. Most Japanese people grow up without ever having non-Japanese classmates and friends. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/18 "2018-01-22T16:49:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ignorance is not a foreign policy. :dubious: You sure about that? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/19 "2018-01-22T17:03:10Z")
> [@Luciano700](#): > > If you say YES, give me a comment on how we can become less tribalistic and have a better sense of community. Clearly one side has to be declared the moral and intellectual winner. Without question. It’s the only way. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179/20 "2018-01-22T17:09:15Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > :dubious: You sure about that? Hey, it works great as a non-policy. Who needs more? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-america-is-the-most-tribalistic-culture/807179.md?page=2)