It makes sense when you view it through group conflict and see the world as being comprised of the power dynamics of groups exclusively. Tribalism is (I think) part of human nature.
I think this is the ideology of nation-states, and before that of kings and queens. It's helpful to think of what a farmer in Provence thought was "my group" in say, the 14th century.
I would think extended family and maybe even local community/village/tribe, that is the vast majority of human existence and evolutionary history as a whole. Nations are pretty new.
I agree. That's why racism is a red herring. We are being divided for the sake of division.
