There is no doubt about herding/tribal instincts in humans, IMHO. Throughout history, humans have lived and worked in groups; and they have fought vicious battles with other “groups” who’ve tried to gain control/access to the resources controlled by the first group.
We are, without any doubt, social animals, and we engage in tribal/herd behavior because it has been beneficial to our ancestors in the past — it was the only means by which they were able to survive during times of scarce resources and other threats.
Hoarding is a very basic instinct, and it really becomes apparent when resources are scarce. IMHO, the global unrest is a result of the perception that billions of other people are beginning to seek greater access to more of the world’s resources. The growing wealth disparity is an example of this hoarding behavior, as those with the access and means are stockpiling for what they believe will be a future filled with greater competition for commodities and other basic necessities.[/quote]
Well, sure humans evolved as ‘tribal’ beings and developed ‘wiring’ for such thinking. Which has led to group think or herding behavior. Which leads to mass insanity, genocide, financial bubbles, etc.. And this is also used for group survival strategies involving resource acquisition. Heck, early empires would conquer and take resources for the glory of it and the conquered would be killed or assimilate. Over time peoples morals changed and Rome came up with “casus belli” or pretext which populations required for war. Which has kept propagandists gainfully employed for a millenia
But what is in flux is *perception* of said tribe. We went from tribes to religions to empires to nation-states and conglomerates of nation-states.
Also, I disagree that hoarding is a ‘natural’ instinct. Survival is an instinct, hoarding is a behavior to perceived scarcity. Now, with the advent of agriculture and associated exponentially increasing populations came drawing lines in the ground, organized violence, locking up the food and a scarcity mentality with associated behavior.
Which makes a financial collapse a conflict-violence prone environment, socially and geo-politically.
