The Green Book: Part Three

Chapter Three

            THE TRIBE


  A tribe is a family which has grown
as a result of procreation. It follows
that a tribe is a big family. Equally a
nation is a tribe which has grown
through procreation. The nation, then,
is a big tribe. So the world is a nation
which has been ramified into various
nations. The world, then, is a big na-
tion. The relationship which binds the
family is that which binds the tribe, the
nation and the world. However, it
weakens with the increase in number.
The concept of man is that of the
nation, the concept of nation is that of
the tribe, and the concept of the tribe is
that of the family. However, the degree
of warmth involved diminishes as the
relationship moves from the smaller
level to the larger one. This is a social
fact only denied by those who are
ignorant of it.
  The social bond, cohesiveness, unity,
intimacy and love are stronger at the
family level than at the tribal level ...
stronger at the tribal level than at that

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of the nation, and stronger at the level
of the nation than at that of the world.
  The advantages, privileges, values
and ideals, which are based on social
bonds, exist where those bonds are
natural and undoubtedly strong, i.e.
they are stronger at the family level
than at that of the tribe, stronger at the
tribal level than that of the nation and

stronger at nation's level than that of
the world. Thus these social bonds and
the benefits, advantages and ideals
associated with them are lost where-
ver the family, the tribe, nation or
mankind vanish or are lost. * It is, there-
fore, of great importance for human
society to maintain the cohesiveness of
the family, the tribe, the nation and the
world in order to benefit from the
advantages, privileges, values and
ideals yielded by the solidarity, cohe-
siveness, unity, intimacy and love of the
family, tribe, nation and humanity. *
  In social terms, the family society is
better than that of the tribe, the tribal
society is better than that of the nation
and the society of the nation is better
than world society as regards fellow-
ship, affection, solidarity and benefit.

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MERITS OF THE TRIBE

  Since the tribe is a large family, it
provides its members with the same
material benefits and social advan-
tages the family provides for its mem-
bers. For the tribe is a secondary
family. What needs to be emphasized
is that the individual might sometimes
act in a disgraceful manner which he
would not dare to do in front of his
family. But since the family is smaller
in size he can escape from its supervi-
sion, unlike the tribe whose supervi-
sion is felt by all its members. In view
of these considerations the tribe forms
a behaviour pattern for its members
which will be transformed into a social
education which is better and more
human than any school education. The
tribe is a social school where its mem-
bers are brought up from childhood to
absorb high ideals which are trans-
formed into a behaviour pattern for
life. These become automatically
rooted as the human being grows,
unlike education with its curricula,
formally dictated and gradually lost
with the growth of the individual. This

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is so because it is formal and ruled by
tests and because the individual is
aware of the fact that it is dictated to
him.
  The tribe is a natural social 'umbrel-
la' for social security. By virtue of
social tribal traditions, the tribe pro-
vides for its members collective pay-

ment of ransom, collective fines, col-
lective revenge and collective defence,
i.e. social protection.
  Blood is the prime factor in the
formation of the tribe but it is not the
only factor because affiliation is also a
factor in the formation of the tribe.
With the passage of time the difference
between the factors of blood and affi-
liation disappears, leaving the tribe as
one social and physical unit. But it is a
unit of blood and origin more than any
other.

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Chapter Four   Table of Contents