Posidism: Positive Identity Based Tribalism
What if there was a way to create ‘positive tribalism’?
“If tribalism could create an energy that could drive the people of Nazi Germany to destroy at unimaginable levels, what if we could use that energy, instead of trying to destroy, but to bring life and create to unimaginable levels?”
Tribalism has been one of the most powerful driving forces to define humanity in our history. Yet when we think of that tribalist force it is almost entirely seen as a source of evil. For good reason. When we think of what tribalism has done, we recall the German/Nazi Genocide of millions of people, The Crusades, The Muslim Conquests, Imperial Japan, Israel vs. Palestine, Communist China, The Mongol Hordes and so forth. From the clash of nations, religions, races, ideologies and partisans, tribalism serves as the dark pumping heart that drives them and our human race. Tribalism is so powerful that Futurist Patrick Dixon says that “tribalism is the most powerful force in the world.” Yet for us this powerful force has only served to make us hate, divide and destroy.
Even though our times are more peaceful and nonsectarian in the modern era, our media continues to rightly see tribalism as a danger, through articles focusing on its destructive nature. If we look at modern partisanship, ideological dogmatism and race relations, the dark force of tribalism remains an ever hovering threat.
So it comes to the surprise of no one that movements have formed with the idea of not seeing people for their identity. To be blind to who we are in the hopes that we can overcome our human nature. It makes sense. If we want our utopia, then eliminate the identities that turn us tribal!
So why would Positive Identity want to hyper-focus on identity? Why have people be driven by their Asian, Black, Hispanic, White, or other identities? Even further, why celebrate them? Because there is a reality where being driven by identity can have an incredibly positive impact and do incredible good. Even society changing good.
One of the fears that we have about tribalism is that it drives even the most sane of person to do things normal people would view as insane or impossible. To do things they would never do before. So here’s the hypothetical. What if we could flip that. What is we could harness the virtue inside of us to do the impossible. That ability to drive people to do things they would never do before for the positive. Not to destroy, but to create. To bring life. Freedom. Happiness. To push us beyond what we thought was possible, to do Good.
This is the foundation of the idea behind “Posidism”. Posidism is the opposite of tribalism. Posidism is where we use our identities as a driving force to be a positive force for the world. Society is more focused on identity than ever. Thus Positive Identity aims to use Posidism as a next generation approach to the modern world that we live in. This will be the Founding Paper on Posidism’s philosophy, morality and function.
“Posidism” is a mergence of the words Positive, Identity and Tribalism. The difference from the tribalism we’ve known is that Posidism is the ying to Tribalism’s yang. They exist on the same field, but they are opposites in outcome. Tribalism is a force for evil that feeds on division and destruction. Posidism is a force for good that lives for unification and creation.
Posidism can actually work for any identity group but for the purposes of Positive Identity we’ll begin by focusing on ethnic and racial groups. While Posidism may sound very unconventional, you may be surprised to hear that many different groups use and have used Posidism before.
One of the greatest examples are the many Jewish organizations that donate to charity and help civic endeavors. Since being Jewish very much is defined by ethnicity in the modern era, we have a great example of an “identity based tribe” that has been a benefit to humanity because of Posidism. When they say to themselves, ‘what is the “Jewish” thing to do’, part of that is the betterment of humankind. There is even a motto, “Tikkun Olam” a concept in Judaism which means “repair of the world”. Furthermore evidence shows that holding tight to their identity allowed the Jewish people to carry along and protect their religion of Judaism from the many ways that society could destroy it. By preserving themselves they preserved “Tikkun Olam”. Holding close to their identity allowed them to do good and preserve good concurrently.
Another great example of Posidism is in the struggle for Black equality. After the end of the Civil War, many Black Americans were grated constitutional equality but still saw themselves as a powerless and low people. Yet a positive self-identity and a unification on the power of Blackness allowed them to mobilize like never before. Organizations such as the NAACP, and the National Urban League were created based on race and were a powerful mechanism for Black-Americans to change society and improve their own community. This focus on a “Black Liberation” unified and drove a powerless and broken people to find unbelievable success in America. Then of course these Black movements leant their support to many other movements looking to overcome oppression. A classic and great example of Posidism.
Another example is The Arab League, a transnational political organization dedicated to ethnic Arab issues and the self-improvement of their constituents. While the many nations of the Middle East and beyond found themselves in post colonial conflict, their shared Arab nature provided a pathway to nullify and pacify their bloody differences. That shared identity, ‘that we are all Arab’, caused them to strive for peace and mutual prosperity in a way that had never been done before. Furthermore, The Arab League has done good for entities and groups that are not Arab showing again that Posidism has a positive influence even outside the group.
There are many more examples of Identity/Racial organizations that exist and have had been a positive to their own people and others. Of course there there are ideological groups that do this as well. The most famous though is the United States of America with its American identity of being a “free people”. This served as the powerful maxim that allowed it to stand strong against the forces of Colonialism, Fascism, Communism and beyond. And then that maxim turned inwards and served as a vehicle to help its people break free from their own worst inclinations. What makes the American identity unique, is that it it is not only connected to how we’re born, but an identity and maxim we can become. They used their identity as a force for moral good.
Even think to your local organizations and sports teams. How they push each other to see who can help people more, or how when a team wins it donates its winning to charity. We see Posidism all the time in all aspects of society!
Many of us have been taught from a young age to fear identity based tribalism because of the dark history of tribalism. Or even worse, many of you believe that your tribe should be fighting for your own benefit and no one elses! Whether you are fighting for women’s rights or men’s rights, religious rights or secular rights, political party vs. other political party, it may feel that being of aid and support to others not part of your identity is out of the question. Yet Black movements help other movements. Jewish groups help the disadvantaged. Christian charity drives push them to help people of all stripes. Book Clubs and Bowling leagues help for activism and advocacy. We see every day that Posidism has a powerfully positive impact on the world.
“Let’s have our community do good for the world.”
What we are talking about is a cutting edge way of thinking. So much so that the term Posidism never existed until now and was created to fit this way of working in the world. Yet its creation serves as an important one. It’s not enough to use our identities as a force for good, but we must also be using that good to stand against those who wish to do evil with our identities. Thus Posidism serves as a way to not just fight for good but against evil. And this way of thinking serves as the underlying thought process for Positive Identity and how it operates.
Fighting against the evil that comes from Tribalism is the key part of the fight. Yet to know good and do good, we must know evil so we can stand opposite of it. So what is tribalism and where does it come from?
In the cavemen times, those that were predisposed to work in a group instead of cutting out on their own survived while the individuals perished. For a group could work as a well oiled unit, gathering resources, assuring mutual protection, safer options for mates, and the ability to grow knowledge and skill. However resources are scarce and eventually groups would split into factions over these scarce resources and become violent and deadly to each other. All of the division of the world comes down to fighting over resources, but not just food, water and sex but for power and belief as well.
But another element that groups would engage in is positive charity to other groups. You see families donating to the poor, governments sending aid to those in need, chess clubs and companies going to help those damaged by natural disaster. But why? These people are not in our group!
The answer is, that subconsciously humans by-in large see all of the human race as their tribe. It makes sense. If the group helps us survive then why limit to who is in our group and this thought process happens on the subconscious level. The same tribal instincts we grew with to evolve as a species are so hardwired into us, that we keep seeing people around as as members of our tribe even when they don’t know it. Therefore the optimist could argue that it’s hardwired into our DNA and spirit to do good. An uplifting realization indeed.
For Positive Identity, our goal is to build positive Posidism around race. Race relations as we know it are some of the worst they’ve been in the modern era and a major part of that is thanks to tribalism. So we want people who are Asian, Black, Hispanic and White to marshal the energy of tribalism, but have it done in a constructive way through Posidism to solve problems, build unity, and create mutual well-being.
The first way we build Posidism, is by reframing what is Good. That being: “what is good for some is good for all.” We’ll call this Universal Upliftment. Good right now often means “the success of our tribe + their loss means = we win”. However if we change the moral code to “the success of any tribe means we all win and the loss of any means we all lose”, then all of a sudden the tribe now works for the good of everyone. There is even evidence to back up that this moral reasoning works. From religious doctrine calling for the uplifting of all people, to the knowledge that war and violence that will hurt us all, to our work on the environment of the planet which could either give us all life or destruction, the idea that the success of all means to success out our group is already taking root. This is Universal Upliftment and Humanity is rapidly buying into it.
Secondly, we then define good through the universal morals that every race and group of people has. The easiest one being Charity. Those who help others, are the most important in a tribe. If a members hoards food or resources, they become a threat to the members of the tribe. But if one is always seeking to aid others, then they’re one of the most important members of the tribe. This also applies to race. The race of people who helps others the most, will be the ones seen the most positively. Being seen positively or as good is something so important to us, that our subconscious survival mechanisms drive for it. Conversely, our urge to reward good is so intertwined with out biological and spiritual self, that the Rule of Reciprocity is well known throughout all aspects of culture, politics and industry.
So how do we have Posidism work for race? Well we know that perspective leads to action. So what Positive Identity aims to do, it to first create positive perception. Then we drive people from a group perspective to help each other.
Let’s explore further. Tribalism also sprouts out from the idea that different tribes are in competition with each other. To be better than the other. The dangers of this is that there is a well know history of putting the other person or group down to make ones self comparatively better. Of course though there is a well known history of competition pushing people to be better in sports, better in work, better in doing good. This is an important part of Posidism. Our natural urge to be better than others will push us to rise to even greater heights than what we normally could reach. Then to prevent it from turning negative, we hardwire in the idea that we’re not trying to be better then each other, but instead better than our current selves. Or even to not “be” better than the other but to “do” better in a way where the other benefits from this. A competition now to positively impact us all.
This has incredible potential, because competition is in our DNA. And different groups are now competing to see who can help the other side the most. Combining Charity, Reciprocity and Universal Upliftment, we have now used Posidism to create a positive feedback loop where the groups are working in overdrive to help each other out at accelerated levels.
Now we know you will have some potential questions or disagreements which we will pre-address in the “Posidism Thoughts, Questions and Concerns” article coming very shortly. Considering the negative nature of tribalism, marshaling that energy requires a great deal of self-reflection and consideration from all different sources.
For now though, Posidism offers a new approach to help stop the violence and division that is affecting many communities in this country. In a society that is rejecting colorblindness for hyper-identity, Posidism represents that culmination of the positive purpose of that hyper-aware state.
This is a core foundational element of Positive Identity. Posidism. Taking our unbreakable want to be tribal, and reengineering it to do great good. We are one human race, yet we are many people, identities and nations within it. For Positive Identity, our movement is that we see each racial group in a positive light and then take positive action to help those other races. Through that we can create a system that can potentially lead to exceptional advancement and harmony for all.
That is Posidism. As for specifics ways of how Positive Identity will incorporate this, expect future articles to cover this topic. In the immediate, we would love to hear your thoughts. As always, this is an evolving science.
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