Tribe Re-established

by Skald

Tribe. Clan. The building blocks of ancient human social structures. Today,... all but gone.

We live in an atomized world. Today, in fact, even the 1950s "nuclear family" is a relic.

And community? Forget it. What community? The average American is an isolated soul.

But it doesnt have to be that way. Its possible to reconstruct the archaic social forms.. in new and novel ways. Today, we no longer need to (nor usually want to) limit our tribe to blood relatives.

My own modern tribe consists of my closest friends, and their significant others. Im blessed to have such a tribe and very happy that we are now, once again, in the same place. We've migrated from South Carolina, to Georgia, to Thailand, and now to San Francisco together.

Truth be told, I feel lonely and depressed when cut off from them (as Ive been for the past 6 months). But slowly, one by one, we've migrated here.

Its hard to underestimate the power of a self-created community. Such a group counters many of the social ills that modern capitalist life inflicts upon us. A tribe is the foundation for a life lived outside the work-consume herd. The tribe makes such a life enjoyable, meaningful, interesting... fun.

And so I recommend to every Hobopoet and would-be hobopoet-- set about finding each other. Create your own community. Dare to resist the bitter isolation that modern life inflicts on so many.