Division, Tribes, and the Bigger Picture

NuNorthern Soul has always stood for breaking down boundaries through music. What follows is a personal reflection from me, Phil, on how division shows up not just in culture, but in the world around us.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

I’ve always been drawn to the theories that sit on the edges of mainstream thinking. Some people would call them conspiracies; I see them as alternative lenses — ways of questioning the official story. Alongside that, I’ve had a lifelong interest in countercultures and the political currents that shape the world around us. Music scenes, social movements, the way communities rise in response to power — these things have always fascinated me.

One theme I keep coming back to is division. How easy it is for us to be pulled into tribes, to choose a side, to define ourselves by what we’re against rather than what we’re for. You see it everywhere — in politics, in culture, in everyday life. But two examples always hit home for me: music and football.

Both are meant to unite. Music is universal, football is the world’s game. Yet both are riddled with tribal lines. In music, scenes split into factions — underground versus mainstream, purist versus eclectic, old school versus new wave. People defend their little corner like it’s a flag. Football’s even clearer: a sport with the power to bring whole nations together, yet week in, week out, it’s rivalries, chants, and the kind of division that sometimes spills into violence.

It makes me wonder — is this just human nature, or is it being nudged along? Because while we’re busy arguing over genres or teams, something bigger is happening above us. Wealth and power are concentrating into fewer and fewer hands. The so-called global elite don’t need to break a sweat if we’re too distracted fighting each other.

The same playbook shows up when we talk about immigration. The seed gets sown — they’re coming to take your jobs, your homes, your culture. It’s a simple story, repeated over and over, and it feeds into that same tribal instinct: us versus them.

But look closer. People moving across borders are usually just chasing the same things we all want: safety, opportunity, a better life for their kids. I know that instinct personally — I moved to Spain to make a better life for myself. I had the privilege of choice, but what if I didn’t? What if my only route to a future was to cross borders any way I could? If my life, or my family’s life, depended on it, I’d do the same as anyone else.

And here’s the part people often miss: when critics say immigrants are “doing it illegally,” they leave out the fact that, for many, there simply isn’t a legal way. Brexit stripped away the route that once existed for so many to move freely and work across borders. For countless people, the “illegal” path is the only one left open.

But there’s an even darker side to division. Push it far enough and it doesn’t just distract people — it radicalises them. Extremism, whether political, religious, or cultural, is often born out of that same us-versus-them mentality, amplified until reason disappears.

Fanatics rarely arrive there on their own. They’re nudged, fuelled, and shaped by narratives designed to channel frustration and fear into loyalty to a cause. In that way, they become weapons of mass agenda — not thinking for themselves, but serving the interests of those who gain from conflict and chaos.

And again, the same cycle plays out: while ordinary people tear each other apart, the deeper structures of power remain untouched. Division doesn’t just weaken us; at its extremes, it actively strengthens the hands of those who benefit from keeping us apart.

It’s not so different from the tribal lines in music or football. When you’re conditioned to defend your scene, your team, your turf, you’re less likely to see the bigger picture. And the bigger picture here is that while communities argue about who belongs where, the real power sits untouched. The elite carry on consolidating wealth, buying influence, and shaping the world in ways most of us never get a say in.

If we weren’t so busy blaming immigrants, or each other, maybe we’d start asking tougher questions about why inequality keeps widening, why housing is unaffordable, why wages stagnate while profits soar. But division shifts the focus. It keeps the pressure off the people at the top.

And just like in music and football, the truth is in the moments of unity. When communities actually come together, when cultures mix, when differences add colour instead of fear — that’s when you feel the strength of humanity.

That’s the real threat to those who benefit from keeping us divided. Unity isn’t naïve — it’s powerful. It’s the one thing that can’t be controlled, bought, or silenced. And maybe that’s where our energy should go: finding the places, the people, and the moments that bring us together, and building from there.

This isn’t about having the last word — it’s about opening the conversation.

Dialogue and communication are the keys to breaking down division and building the kind of unity that lasts. If we can keep talking, listening, and questioning together, we stand a much better chance of seeing through the distractions and focusing on what really matters.