Some general truths ring loudest...
(Taken from Delphi Forums - Put together by MADDOG who has since passed on)

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http://www.onelife.com/psy/culhist.html

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How do clubs fit in as modern tribes...here is a great excerpt so folks can see Im not off with this....from the above source...and there are MANY

1. Cultures must have clear-cut and well-expressed rules of conduct. What to do and what is taboo must be shown in unmistakable terms. A rule of conduct that states that anything goes is not a rule. It is an absence of a rule. It is a rule against having rules. There is no such thing as a null culture, a culture without individual freedom restriction. Anarchy is not a culture.

2. A successful culture will provide for the teaching of its rules to its members. The time-honored method of teaching a culture is the family system. Parents obey the personal restrictions of their culture and teach their children to do so. School augmentation insures completeness and uniformity. Some rules are also so important that they must be codified into criminal law.

3. A culture must hold its members responsible for their own actions. The instant that the culture is used as a basis for the breaking of the cultural rules, that culture ceases to exist. The instant that the breaking of rules by one is allowed to be justified by the actions of another, then it ceases being a rule of the culture. The purpose of a rule in a culture is to obtain predictable behavior. If it does not, then the rule becomes invalid. If enough rules are thus declared invalid, then the culture, which consists of these rules, also becomes invalid.

4. The culture must satisfy tribal instincts. If a culture exists, it must have a reason for existing. The only valid reason for a particular culture is that it provides a value for its members perceived by them to be greater than that offered by any other culture. It must differentiate in some manner. If a member of a culture is not loyal to that culture, he should move to a culture in which he is comfortable or abandon all culture. Remaining in a culture (or being allowed to do so) while antagonistic to it is not acceptable in any culture. If many members rebel, the culture collapses, as can be seen in the American culture today. The only successful cultures in America today (if there are any) are the subcultures. Only there can the tribal instincts be served.

5. To be a successful culture, one that provides a dependable environment for all members, rules that describe all human interaction must be provided. These standards include language, dress, ethical values, life philosophy, family structures, customs, music, art, sexual behavior in and out of wedlock, even facial expressions. Each such rule should be required only for species comfort and longevity. No rule should exist which allows the unbridled satisfaction of any instinct.

6. A culture is useless if it does not enforce its rules. A culture that defies its own rules, is a con. It has a purpose other than the health and well-being of its members. A culture that espouses a set of cultural rules that it has no intention of following, is a hollow culture. Living in a hypocritical manner is worse than anarchy. Such a culture mocks itself.

7. A culture that does not condemn those who do not abide by its rules has no meaning.

8. A culture based on knowledge and reason must not have any rule without basis. Every rule must be backed up with an intellectual reason for being. This is absent in all current cultures.

Compassion is emotionally driven, and is an instinct (as are all other cultural forces). When it was developed by evolution, it was a survival tool. The tribe that showed compassion between its members could survive better than one that consisted of selfish individuals. Their world was a harsh and dangerous one. Accidents and sicknesses were common. Floods and famines were common. When an adult was sick or hurt, others helped him care for his children. Food was shared during food shortages. Sympathy, empathy, family love, tribal love, and tribal cooperation are all part of this survival aid. This instinct is under siege. It was successful if it reacted within a small group. When welfare is provided with personal contact, there is a repayment in personal pride and satisfaction, a joy in seeing the results of the sacrifice. When the tribes became huge so that personal contact was lost outside the immediate family, this instinct failed on any charity outside the immediate family. Now that the family unit is also disintegrating, antagonism rather than cooperation is becoming the norm in all social interactions. The modern teaching of personal rights (I have my rights and you are supposed to be tolerant of whatever I do) as opposed to personal cooperation, causes compassion to fall into disuse. Even our government works against the instinct for compassion by taking our money at gunpoint and giving it to a stranger (who we suspect is undeserving) and doing it inefficiently as well. This instinct is falling into disuse (due to lack of personal compassionate behavior). Mutations are occurring which are degrading that instinct. Since we have a population that is increasing rapidly, natural selection will recognize this degradation as successful and spread it around in the gene pool so that everyone will eventually become demanding and hostile toward his neighbor.