There is something I particularly dislike in politics: tribalism¹. It’s best exemplified whenever a party writes a bill, the opposition denounces it as “the worst thing ever”. Then, some time later, another party brings it back, but now the first party suddenly dictates it’s “the worst thing ever”.

It makes them look like they’re more interested in scoring points against the other “teams”, than constructively working on improving the lives of their constituents. I assume they do that because it somehow helps them in holding onto power, and since it’s the end goal of politics, that’s a pretty strong incentive.

Another reason is the ideological differences between those political groups can fuel blind rivalry, turning political life into some kind of toxic team sport, if left unchecked. This phenomenon of fighting over our differences permeates throughout society, to the most minute of them.

As an historical example², during the reign of Justinian I and Theodora in the VIᵗʰ century, the Byzantine Empire’s church was split between Orthodox and Monophysite Christians. The fundamental difference was about accepting (or not) the dual nature of the Christ (both human and divine)…

It sounds ridiculous to us now and yet, that divide was as bitter as the Protestants vs Catholics schism. You know, the one that ended in a few massacres here and there.

For examples that you might be familiar with, think about those endless debates about car brands, sports teams, smartphone OS superiority… It just shows that the reason we argue is more a pretense to sort ourselves into separate groups of belonging. The process is somewhat unconscious, susceptibility to it varies with psychotype, and the animosity between groups is generally pretty weak³.

This behavior might find its roots in our ancestor’s tribe lifestyle, as getting too big and diversified of a group might have been too much to handle back then, so it would make sense to organically split the group into like-minded individuals, but that’s pure speculation.

Regardless of its origins, it became problematic now since we generally benefit from being the biggest group possible, in terms of economies of scale and specialization. Without that, no individual would have the ability to create a space program on its own⁴.

Apes together, strong!

To combat this, I propose an ideology where we recognize and focus on what we have in common, and put aside our differences. It’s fine to acknowledge them, we need to avoid tearing us apart over them. Let’s name it “Common First, Division Aside⁵” or C.F.D.A. for short.

By the way, this ideology already came up in the 17th century under the name Irenicism, in order to mend rifts in the Catholic Church⁶. It probably came up many times before that: we saw the Byzantine Empire had the same issue, and it’s still very common nowadays.

In order to implement this “CFDA”, we first need to realize when we’re fighting over our pointless divisions. Note that we shouldn’t naively ignore those divisions, simply try not to be too confrontational about them.

One way to do that is by putting what we agree on front and center, and calmly work our way to where, and why, our opinions diverge. It’s likely impossible to agree on everything anyway, and it’s fine, we simply need to coexist peacefully and constructively.

That common-centric approach won’t work for differences in tastes or hobbies though, if you find the very idea of hunting repulsive, if you see life in a fundamentally different manner⁷, there isn’t much common ground you can find.

The general attitude to adopt, is of tolerance, open mindedness and giving the benefit of the doubt, whenever possible. Again, not in an overly naive manner as there will be mischievous spirits that take pleasure, or have vested interests, in stoking the flames of dissent.

You may find that evil, but even if you do, they’re probably necessary, meaning we need to learn how to live with them. We can do so by limiting our violent reactions to the baits, taunts or trolls we’re sure to encounter, especially online.

Ignoring them can be really tough sometimes, but you’re unlikely to change someone’s mind by arguing with them, especially if they’re acting in bad faith, so why bother?

Look, I believe there isn’t a single issue where we can get everyone to agree on. If we want to throttle the petty infighting that has plagued society for so long, it’ll take continuous efforts from everybody.

All of this might be depressing and bring up the misanthrope in you, so let me uplift your spirit with a neat closing quote:

We do have a lot in common. The same Earth, the same air, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what’s the same instead of what’s different… well, who knows⁸.