Brandt Schafer
Applied Ethics
Dr. Donahue
24 October 2013
Tribalism
1. Tribalism is the resilient emotions regarding identity and patriotic dedication one has
to any collection of people in which he or she may belong.
2. To quote an unaccredited journalist, “Americans would become nationalists and
racists too if…media were totally in the hands of the Ku Klux Klan.” Throughout
television, newspapers, and propaganda, ignorant civilians are provided falsifications
about the people they use to coexist with just because of their backgrounds. The media
encases its viewers a trap of belief, and the government could manipulate them as they
pleased.
Hobbesian Fear was another trap to which Serbians and Croatians fell victim. In
1954 Albert Einstein stated that “fear or stupidity has always been the basis of most
human actions.” While these people were not unintelligent, but rather ignorant, they
were certainly fearful, and acted upon all media and government orders without
question. This fear prevents either force from striking first in war, despite essentially
beginning their conflict.
The final trap involved with the Yugoslavian conflict was of the tribal state.
Whenever a country has ethical mixtures, it is virtually impossible to enforce regulations
on citizens differently based upon their race or beliefs. Chaos and rebellion will
inevitably ensue, just as it did in the United States in the Civil Rights Movement.
3. If residents of a nation or union could unify with each other regardless of their
physical and ancestral characteristics before political discord, they should be able to
afterwards. Yet the fear of bloodshed renders them vulnerable to whatever their
government may instruct.