While our own “future reality” tribe was gathering this evening at our lab at NYU to do collaborative reesearch, a much larger tribe was gathering in Washington Square Park. This evening, it seems, was the big NYC rally for Bernie Sanders.
A number of students at our Wednesday evening research gathering were sporting “Bernie” stickers. Toward the end of our meeting they gathered together excitedly and announced that they were on their way to join the rally in the park.
But the tone of it all seemed a little odd to me. This didn’t feel exactly like a set of likeminded people getting together to discuss politics. It seemed more primal than that, like something almost religious in its fervor. As long as we’re talking about “tribes”, this felt like a much older definition of a tribe.
I knew I’d seen this kind of fervor before among left leaning arts-oriented young people, but at first I couldn’t quite place the connection. And then it hit me.
“Oh I get it,” I said, “You’re all going to Bernie Man.”