What tribal societies can tell us about justice and liberty
Hi Marc,
Several years ago, Toby Dodge, a British historian who wrote extensively on Iraq and the failures of nation-building, tackled the issue of modernity and governance through the lens of Somalia describing how the tribes maintained law and order after state-failure through their accepted and traditional norms, values, and beliefs. While many are uncomfortable of this notion, primarily because it challenges the permanence of the Westphalian nation-state and the same areas lead to a breeding ground for al Qaeda's unconventional warfare campaign, I think there is some truth to his thesis that tends to support Paul Sillitoe & Mako John Kuwimb's rebuttal.
Sometimes, acephalous does not equate to anomie or anarchy.
Instead, sometimes, others (formerly savages) have a way of working things out that are simply foreign to the “civilized” world. Specifically, they have a better tolerance for levels of violence. It took me a long time to accept and fully understand this distinction. In Iraq, as the time passed when the tribes were working things out and the situation declined into a civil war, the world was very bloody, and I was struck at how inhuman my neighbors acted towards each other. Eventually, we intervened and forced arbitration.
As I reeled in the Sunnis, I was unsure of how to approach to force some acceptance that beheading their neighbors and stealing their land was unacceptable. I finally just shamed them by making them watch the actual video of the executions over and over pointing out how they stood cheering while their friends died. The elders cried over and over, but they remained stuck in inaction for some time to make amends.
I walked away from that deployment just shaking my head and conceding that there are some people that you just can’t help.
A year later, my friends (both US and Iraqis) wrote to me to tell me of the sustained peace that had come back to the valley. I was in disbelief. I thought they’d simply just keep killing each other, but then I was reminded of the conflict resolution negotiations we had conducted in my final days there. Sunnis and Shias, all neighbors, some interrelated, meeting for the first time since they had last been fighting. I did not know what to expect. When we walked into the building, they were all crying and hugging each other proclaiming how much they missed each other. I was befuddled. These were the same men, who three months prior, were literally trying to kill each other. In truth, I had to learn that this was normal for them. They were conditioned to periods of peace under controlled governance with periods of intense fighting breaking out with each regime change followed with conflict resolution and amends.
Conversely, I think sometimes we fail to grasp how modernity is viewed by the tribes. In the case of Sayyid Qutb,when attending school in Colorado, he did not see a land of freedom, self-reliance, and endowed with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He observed a promiscuous land with no values- a Devil’s playground.
I suppose it's all about how you look at the society. In some ways, to each their own, that is, until you decide to fly planes into someone else's playground.
v/r
Mike
Originally Posted by MikeF
. In reality, I suppose that each man is of his own while influenced by his specific and individual culture, religion, family, and tribe; however, to that end, we, and that is for all of us, must and should not equate tribal to poor. 
. Personally, I do like bringing it up every now and then since it seems to be a fallacy that we are all subject too every now and again (cf. governance deterministic insurgencies...).
) Ottawa!
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