How Tribalism and Populism Are Unraveling Our Civilization (And What We Can Do)

Why are so many people today drawn to the politics of anger, division, and resentment? According to Suicide of the West, the answer lies deep in our evolutionary past. For most of human history, survival depended on loyalty to the tribe. Outsiders were threats, and cooperation was limited to kin. These instincts, Goldberg argues, never disappeared; they were merely suppressed by the cultural Miracle of the West. Now, as pluralistic institutions weaken, the old tribal mind is reawakening.



Populist leaders—on both right and left—exploit our longing for belonging. They promise to restore lost greatness, but often at the expense of pluralism and tolerance. Identity politics, meanwhile, reduces people to their group memberships, reviving the ancient boundaries that the Miracle sought to dissolve. The result is polarization, zero-sum thinking, and the unraveling of social trust.

History is filled with warnings. From ancient Rome to the French Revolution, societies that succumbed to tribal passions saw not renewal but chaos. The pluralistic miracle—where power is divided among many institutions and identities—is always fragile. When one group claims all the power, or when the individual is lost in the crowd, decline follows.

Yet, there is hope. Education, gratitude, and the celebration of overlapping identities can resist the pull of the tribe. Societies that remember their history, teach their values, and defend pluralism can survive even the fiercest storms. The battle is never over, but neither is it hopeless.



If we wish to preserve the Miracle, we must fight for it—not with anger, but with memory, gratitude, and the daily work of citizenship. The future depends on our willingness to choose pluralism over tribalism, and hope over fear.

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