Amid some musings on evolutionary psychology and the vast differences in the polity of a hunter-gatherer tribal band compared with the polity of a modern nation-state, George Mason University associate professor of economics Robin Hanson says:

Libertarians are right that it would best if people came to see something much smaller than the nation, such as the family, firm, or club, as the natural analogue of the forager-band. But, alas, war propaganda has long worked to cement the notion of our nation as our tribe, and that will be hard to undo. Let us hope tolerance and decentralization will continue due to selection and imitation, together with citizen apathy and reluctance to kick up big national-debate stinks. It may be a good thing that voters seem too bored and distracted to bother with lots of heart-felt national conversations leading to closure on deeply-felt issues. Yeah apathy!