Why Humans Need a Tribe | Book Insights on Tribe by Sebastian Junger

Mar 15 2023 • 22 mins

*Sebastian Junger’s work as a journalist and film-maker in war zones led him to some startling facts about conflict and hardship: people are often happier in times of war than in peace; disasters are sometimes recalled more fondly than vacations or weddings; and mental illness increases the richer a society becomes.

*Rather than hardship, what people cannot bear is the feeling that they are unnecessary, not part of some tight group that needs them and looks out for them.

*History bears this out: in the early days of North America’s settlement by Europeans, many white captives of American Indians, once freed, chose to go back to tribal life.

*And many of the soldiers who Junger met admitted they didn’t just struggle to find civilian life meaningful, they actually missed the war experience.

*Junger pulls these facts together into a compelling argument about the intrinsically tribal nature of human beings and the dreadful cost of the de-tribalization of modern life.

Theme 1: History of Tribalism - 0:29

Theme 2: Tribal War - 7:50

Theme 3: Tribalism & America - 16:05

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HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEWS MENTIONED IN TODAYS' EPISODE HERE:

ABC News. “Bowe Bergdahl Responds to Those Who Called Him a Traitor.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyvcY2DH4fg.

Archive, AP. “The CEO of Goldman Sachs Testily Defended His Company's Ethics and Business Practices during the Nat.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r3oeQdrb5c&t=49s.

Fox Business. “Trump Calls Media 'Enemy of the People'.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 July 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtP3yDf4yuo.

Joe Rogan University - Fan Channel. “Sebastian Junger on Affluent Living and Obese People.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=anyq9jn2uTw.

JRE Clips. “Joe Rogan & Sebastian Junger - Modern Society Makes People Depressed.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=R04K0jLMZ1Y.

PowerfulJRE. “Joe Rogan Experience #1034 - Sebastian Junger.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iurXFfNriyg&t=207s.

“Sebastian Junger Examines Veteran Life After Leaving 'Tribe'.” NPR, NPR, 21 May 2016, www.npr.org/2016/05/21/478962909/sebastian-junger-s-examines-veteran-life-after-leaving-tribe.

TED. “Our Lonely Society Makes It Hard to Come Home from War | Sebastian Junger.” YouTube, YouTube, 10 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9DNWK6WfQw&t=616s.

TED. “Sebastian Junger: Why Veterans Miss War.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 May 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGZMSmcuiXM&t=700s.

TV, TPM. “President Bush Addresses Nation on Economic Crisis.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Sept. 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsDmPEeurfA.