Social solidarity must be cultivated from our tribal nature, not imposed by moral imperatives

LINK to Guardian article, Cameron is halfway there on society, by Lisa Harker

Our country no longer pulls together as it should. But materialism, not big government, has damaged social solidarity

Feelings of social solidarity are an evolutionary adaptation to the individual's dependency (for survival and reproductive success) on their TRIBE.

Extending such feeling of solidarity beyond one's own tribe is fraught with difficulties, which favourable circumstances may briefly overcome, but only for as long as they last (e.g. helping a stranger in need, for example) or can be maintained. Notwithstanding that some individuals may convince themselves (perversely and/or opportunistically) that EVERYONE belongs to their TRIBE, which, of course, is what the STATE and universalist religions and ideologies, for their own, self-serving purposes, encourage us all to do.

If we want the genuine, deeply rooted social solidarity, so sorely lacking, which our leaders, and Lisa here, are always appealing to and for, then we have to cultivate and develop it from our evolved tribal nature (which we need to develop a far better understanding of), instead of trying to impose it through moral imperatives, which invariably are largely motivated by the (subconscious) intention of exploiting it to unfair advantage.

The STATE has always appealed for social solidarity, which is then exploited to the advantage of its powerful and privileged elites. And established religions do the same. In claiming to SERVE society, their primary (subconscious) purpose is to exploit it, to their own advantage.

This is not to say that the state and established religion do not serve society. They do, of course, and we depend on them. But their primary purpose is to maintain society as an ENVIRONMENT to be exploited to the advantage of those in wealth, power and privilege.

Once we recognise and develop and understanding of this, we can begin to transform our civilization from the human environment it is now (full of "human resources" for the (self)-exploitation of) into genuine human societies (for the conscious and rational realization of human potential).