Monica,

Yours is one of very few voices on Medium that I value highly. I'll follow it wherever it goes.

if we accept that tribes are a collective comprised of individuals for whom membership conveys social, economic and safety benefits, it's always going to be a "for or against" dynamic. Perhaps what we need is a new paradigm. A meta-tribe if you will. Something that has the elasticity necessary to encompass all tribes (even if they don't want to be encompassed). Perhaps we're in the midst of an evolutionary shift which, if successful, will propel humanity past it's obsession with scarcity and tribes will evaporate into the ether. Here's hoping.

So, if we were to say that the "tribe" you now belong to is the superset of all tribes, that might be a beginning. You didn't abandon your old tribe and, notwithstanding their behaviour, they are not able to force you out if your now in a tribe that includes all tribes.

I grew up in a blue-collar family, worked in factories, never finished college, became a mostly self-taught IT professional, worked in technology management for Fortune 100 companies, state and local government, etc. Also, performed and directed regional theater and produced at a small scale in NY. Now run a performing arts school with my wife. So my professional and social circles have been all across the map. Some of my highly educated friends who are card carrying members of the "well educated" social elite are the most bigoted people I know. The election in 2016, rather than stimulating thoughtful consideration on their part simply fed even greater bigotry against the "basket of deplorables". It will, I fear, lead to even more class warfare as the 2022 and 2024 elections draw closer. Most of them didn't bother to see Lynn Nottage's brilliant play "Sweat" and if they did, they didn't get the irony.

Montana is a good place to be I think. I appreciate your leadership. Perhaps some day we can get more people to listen.