The no.1 gateway drug to authoritarianism

Why tribalism destroys your mind, and why it's the most potent gateway drug to authoritarianism.
This is a talk I gave in Germany at the summer retreat of the group Liberty Rising in 2023.
Twitter: / nikos_17
My book on tribalism: www.amazon.com...
Thumbnail: Shruti Menon

[@eduardorpg64]

The part at the end was powerful Nikos. The whole "you need to live your own life, and see the world through your own eyes" was amazing. The examples of Galileo and Steve Jobs were amazing. Also, I didn't realize that history is only changed by people who see the world through their own eyes. I've met a ton of opposition in my life since I want to use my own judgement. Hell, I still get a lot of criticism and a lot of opposition. Nobody wants me to live my own life where I live. I need to live the same lfie as a mediocre average person, because others say so, but no rational reason is given. Amazing talk, Nikos!

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

Many thanks Eduardo, highly appreciated.

[@CapitalistSpy]

You’re killing it Nikos❤ How that channel has 1,1k subscribers ? Btw. When you will do a live video with Yaron? That would be flame 🔥!

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

Thank you! I've been to Yaron's show twice, looking forward to more!

[@CapitalistSpy]

@@nikossotirakopoulos6876 You should be a monthly invitee, like many others. I would love to see collaborations with the ARI STAFF

[@StephanDoupleS]

The Soul of Liberty event, I had been there. However, when her workshop started. I had been to another workshop. Wonderful that you can catch up here. And I look forward to listening to you at the upcoming Liberty Rising Summer Camp.

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

See you in Germany!

[@tomburroughes9834]

Superb.

[@rifrafbarker]

Reminds me of Petersons critiques of Ideology. Thank you for encouraging us to take the road less taken.

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

Thank you! FWIW, I don't believe that any ideology = tribalism (though any adherent of any ideology can turn tribalistic).

[@mattdragon333]

I was calling this "Fanatism" because it is much like the mindset of fanatics, and you can actually relate it to media as well

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

Yes, though you can have non-tribal fanatics.

[@mattdragon333]

@@nikossotirakopoulos6876 how would that work? What's a non-tribal fanatic like?

[@sot11cat]

Great job Niko! One question, if you could answer it: how is tribalism translated into Greek?

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

Great question. I haven't found a good translation. Φυλετισμός, οπαδισμός are potential, but not excellent translations.

[@ctrlaltcreate4099]

Nikos, regarding the presidential comparison, without even knowing the scenarios, I can immediately synthesize a difference simply by considering the context. My first take would be, some conservatives are worried about a liberal meeting with a socialist dictator because they don't trust him to not sell out the country, he might pull a "Trudeau" and start borrowing ideas out of admiration. Whereas other conservatives are impressed by Trump meeting Kim Jong Un because they have no worry he's going to be taken advantage of but rather trust he's going there to exert his will to better advance the interests of the USA. The two scenarios could be held in different regard legitimately if it's not about the meeting but the meaning of it. What's more is the conservatives in the two scenarios don't have to be the same people. Just wanted to bring up the points because I thought the comparison lacks rigor. Argh, but then the points get more facile from there. Trump never put the vaccines in our shoulders. He made the vaccines available with the intention that you could freely choose. Democrats are the ones that wanted to force you to take it without informed consent. Conservatives were championing industry, liberals were championing mandates. I'm willing to bet most people didn't change opinions, but once again the crucial context of the vaccine changed, so the discussion changed in the mainstream. Then Ukraine, is the only reason people are against supporting it is because woke are for it? It is not possible people have a principled stance against foreign war intervention especially with the disastrous track record of how that money gets spent? I feel this conclusion is the laziest and most disingenuous of the bunch. Certainly, I believe there really is a cohort of people that reflexively behave in the ways you describe, unthinkingly tribal, but the examples you raise don't prove it. Reasoning people can align with these positions. I'm sad it appears not a single person in this audience has expressed more critical thinking, which is what your talk is supposed to be about. EDIT: The second half of your presentation I loved though, no criticisms there!

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

Conservatives were indeed much better in lockdowns in the US (though remember Trump championed them at some point, and even called us not to take Sweden's example seriously). This wasn't my point though. My point was the double standards. Re. Ukraine, I'ma also against any intervention, and sceptical re. Western military assistance when there is no endgame strategy. But notice that conservatives don't stop there. Many whitewash Putin and decline to give even moral support to Ukraine. Thanks though for your comment and the kind words, appreciated!

[@magouliana32]

Completely wrong ! Israel is extremely identity based, tribal and very successful so was Greece before universal Christianity.

[@genewalters]

Greece was more successful than other ancient states because it was more identity based? I thought it was successful because it provided a bit more political freedom, judicial process, and freedom of speech than other countries during its time.

[@magouliana32]

@@genewalters all of the above, once the universality of Christianity dissolved their true identity the Greeks as a great force faded away. It dissolved their tribal national identity.

[@nikossotirakopoulos6876]

The Hutus and Tutsis were also very tribal, but this didn't work out well. Tribalism isn't the secret behind Israel's success.

[@magouliana32]

@@nikossotirakopoulos6876 you are partly correct tribalism aka modern day ethnicism is just one component of a healthy and successful people’s. The modern Israelis are in large part successful today because they utilize the Hellenic meritocratic education model that since ancient times knew the secret of the Bell curve. There many other factors as well some less important than others. Your modern western education has conveniently left out certain truths that it did not want to known because they would make the populations truly educated and therefore hard to govern.