•July 27, 2016•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

Warning: The following includes broad, some might say simplistic, generalizations. I also ascribe perceptions by groups of people that certainly don’t hold in all cases. Yet I consider both the generalizations and perceptions overall to be important in understanding America society today.

The people of small Norway and Finland belong, respectively, to a single “tribe,” if you will.

In each case, and in other northern European nations as well, the citizens have mostly sprung from the same stock. They are almost “family,” one might say.

As such, Norwegians and Finns find it proper and easy to use community and government to support fellow family members when they might stumble for a while in the game of life.

In contrast, Americans belong, basically, to three tribes—white, black, brown.

No American tribe fully trusts the other tribes.

The black tribe resents the white tribe for oppressing it throughout our history, first as slaves, then as indentured servants, always denied the full rights of America.

At the same time, blacks are wary of the brown tribe for muscling in over the past century, just at the time blacks might have otherwise gained a better economic foothold.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.