Paleopolitics

Without a shared way of looking at the world, the changing economy has split us into warring tribes

Diets tend to be faddish but even the Free Range Economist got caught up in the notion of the paleo diet. The idea behind it is that our stomachs evolved over thousands of years to the foods (such as vegetables, nuts, and fish) that we would eat back when we were hunters and gatherers. The same concept can be applied to how are minds developed to operate within small tribes so as to ensure that the group (and hence the individuals within it) would survive. The means by which we have been able to move towards interacting with more and more people has been eroded away as economic changes impact on how people understand the world around them.

Humans, like all other creatures, have adapted over time to better fit in with their environment. Our bodies developed to survive feast and famine and we still store up any extra calories, but rather than being helpful in the modern world, this now causes problems such as obesity. Our minds also are fine-tuned to operate in relatively small groups of a hundred or so people based around the larger family unit. While the world around us has changed, our tribal brain can also play havoc with how we cope with life in a global world.

Previously, the key for survival would be a strong group identity so that everyone would put in their all to guarantee the survival of the whole even if it were to mean sacrifices for the individuals. One way of doing this was to create clear boundaries between those within the group and outsiders who were often viewed with distrust. But the growth of larger and larger social groups shows our ability to go beyond these basic building blocks for society and work together with people from different backgrounds.

The key to managing bigger masses of people outside of our kinship grouping is shared narratives that bind everyone together. These narratives develop over time so that society can expand in size and get individuals working together for the good of the whole. In this way, society became more inclusive despite its past of excluding people from outside a narrow group. Religion and nationalism were two such grand narratives that help large numbers of people work together toward common goals while also accepting new recruits that shared their beliefs.

In more recent times, economic progress has become the rallying cry for society. We rely on the economy for lots of our wants and needs and toil away to do our bit. It is understood that economic activity might result in job losses or businesses going bust, but the economy had also provided people with a way to get back on their feet. The economy does not instill devotion or passion in the same way as religious or patriotic beliefs, but steady improvements in our daily lives meant that most people were happy to do their bit.

Things seemed be going so well with solid growth in the few decades up to the 1970s that people rallied together to form a generous welfare state for the less fortunate. However, these years of plenty slowly melted away with the rise of globalization along with automation and computers that have eroded away economic gains for many. The effects of these trends have not been even but have instead resulted in a large portion of the population seeing their livelihood stagnate while others continued to prosper.

While religion or past national glories might provide some consolation for those who have fallen on hard times, economics provides little comfort. There is the expectation that those without jobs or those not earning high enough wages should move elsewhere or take up new skills to find better work. After all, it is expected that each of us will do our share and thus earn a wage. Yet, what the economy provides, the economy can also take away, and as such, many previously prosperous areas in industrialized countries have suffered from seemingly terminal decline. Flight was the preferred option for many but those who stayed to fight have struggled as economic activity has drained away.

As well as suffering through a lack of job opportunities, those left behind have had to go without a helping hand from their own countrymen and women. On top of this, the story that economics would tell suggests that it is all their own fault and that they have no one to blame but themselves. With this tale not looking likely to have a happy ending, it is little wonder that many have turned to conspiracy theories so as to understand why previously industrious folk have ended up falling on hard times. The situation is further compounded by minorities on issues such as race, gender, and sexuality seeming to be getting a lot more sympathy from some.

For their part, those still happy with how the economy operates see those without work or decent jobs as not playing by the rules. Those who have prospered hold themselves as examples that anyone should be able to succeed. And we rely more on those who thrive to spur on the economy so we tend to have little compassion for those who struggle (which is one of the reasons why tax rates have been falling). Instead, the left behinds are often looked down upon for not being able to keep up with progress or being fooled into supporting populist politicians.

Despite the obvious analogies, this is more than an us-versus-them story but one in which many people have lost faith in their economic future. While immigrants have taken some of the blame, tribalism looks set to become particularly fierce among people that look alike but who have differing economic fortunes. Our past tribal selves might have treated outsiders with disdain, but the worst treatment was dished out to those within the group who did not look after their own. Without a shared story to believe in anymore, our disagreements could swell over so as to push back against further economic progress.

To transcend the tribalism within each different countries, the narrative of economic progress needs to be rebuilt so that it rings true again for the majority of the population. The assumption being that issues of culture and identity could potentially ease if more people had control of their economic destinies. Otherwise, the increasing rancor will continue to mount and only make the issues worse. Tribes are not so good at working together but are instead much better suited to warring with one another. But conflict will not help us progress and is instead more likely to drive us all nutty (and not in the good paleo diet way).