Latest Book Review: Tribe, by Sebastian Junger

I have to admit, I'm not only a serial book buyer, but I'm a bit of a book gifter too. If I see something I think someone will like, or in particular, if I read something that I think someone else will get as excited about as I did, then I cant help but send a copy their way.

That said, I was surprised a couple of weeks ago when someone did that very thing to me.

I love a good discussion on great books people have read and on a recent night out with a team i've spent much of this year working with, a client and I got talking about challenging and thoughtful books we were both reading at the time.

Low and behold, a few weeks later when we met back up for our next training session, he presented me with a copy of the book he'd mentioned and which had dominated much of our discussions. A gift for me! ....And what a great gift it was too.

Tribe is reflections of author and film maker, Sebastian Junger, a guy who's spent a lot of time in remote locations, in active front line situations. He spells out how humanity is built on the foundation of "community"; a fragile component that seems to be fostered in the toughest times yet in all other ways is being destroyed by our current way of living.

A simple, compelling, thought-provoking book, it lays out how community-spirit is built into our very fabric. As he says in the book, "Humans are so strongly wired to help one another and enjoy such enormous social benefits from doing so – that people regularly risk their lives for complete strangers."

A couple of key messages that really hit home for as how we are inclined to act towards one another and for greater good when the toughest times hit are: 

❕Communities that have been devastated by natural or man-made disasters almost never lapse into chaos and disorder; if anything, they become more just, more egalitarian, and more deliberately fair to individuals.

❕Disasters create a “community of sufferers” that allows individuals to experience an immensely reassuring connection to others. As people come together to face an existential threat. Class differences are temporarily erased, income disparities become irrelevant, race is overlooked, and individuals are assessed simply by what they are willing to do for the group. It is kind of fleeting social utopia.

❕The coming together that societies often experience during catastrophes is usually temporary but sometimes the effect can last years of even decades. In every upheaval we rediscover humanity and regain freedoms. We relearn some old truths about the connection between happiness, unselfishness, and the simplification of living.

There are many costs to modern society... the most dangerous loss may be to community. If the human race is under threat in some way that we don’t yet understand, it will probably be at a community level.... put bluntly, modern society has fallen foul of emphasising "extrinsic values" over "intrinsic ones."

A great read.... I highly recommend it!