A love letter to the politically tribeless in America

Julie Williamson
Aug 22, 2017 · 3 min read

I see you.

I see you as you sit wordlessly at the bar looking just above the eyes of your Tinder date as he blusters on about his tribe and why they are right and everyone else is wrong.

I see you as you sink into your plane seat, while the two people behind you shriek with delight at discovering they are of the same tribe, and launch into a loud conversation about how smart they are, and how dumb everyone else is. And I see you as you sigh and take out your noise cancelling headphones.

I see you out at a restaurant with your family, awkwardly placed between the warring tribes that only blood and birthday cake force together, as you try to keep your head down and avoid being pulled into either side.

I see you on the bus, watching as someone wearing their tribal dress boards, loudly proclaiming their allegiances and challenging anyone to cross them.

I see you in line at the supermarket, your eyes glazing over as you graze the salacious headlines that shout about the latest tribal transgression.

I see you standing in the background as the cameras pounce on yet another incident, one camera angled to spin it positively and the other angled to create outrage — two views of the same thing, one for each tribe.

I see you as you are shouted into silence by your companion who is foaming at the mouth about some indefensible slight from another tribe.

I see you. And I love you. I love you for being the best of us. You are not neutral. When it counts, you stand up to be counted, for whatever tribe needs your voice at the moment. You know who you are and what you stand for, and you also know that no one is without fault. You know that we are all innocent and guilty of war crimes in this crazy political struggle. You recognize your own hypocrisies within your beliefs and emotions, and because of your willingness to acknowledge them, you aren’t governed by them. You know the value of admitting when you are wrong and the beauty of growing and nurturing your perspective — of (gasp) changing your mind. You believe in taking a deep breath and remembering that our system of government is the strongest on earth, and we will get through this time as we have other times.

You are capable of engaged, educated conversation with people who think differently than you do. You know that it is possible for someone to believe differently than you and not be a fringe lunatic who is ready to commit violence. You are capable of accepting the duality of being intolerant of intolerance. And you know that those who are extreme need to be socially censured through clear and decisive language and action.

You are not insane for believing in the best of most of us, and for thinking that politics doesn’t have to be about a war that no one ever wins. It could be about using our differences to negotiate a more perfect union for the majority of us who are not crazy extremists and who just want to make this a better world for everyone.

I know you are out there. You are not alone. Let’s find each other. Let’s build a new tribe.

)

Julie Williamson

Written by

Interested in how people construct their worlds, and what happens when they do.

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