It has long been my conclusion that if people need people, then one person will not satisfy each and every personal need, but this seems to be exactly what many of us expect.

 The 'One' we are constantly searching for is in actual fact as rare as rocking horse shit.

 Most of us need 'elders' and 'parental' figures as well as mentors, 'siblings', companions, friends, acquaintances and lovers in order that different parts of our psyches be satisfied; in short, we still require the support of extended families and 'tribes', for such is how we have evolved - it is only relatively recently in evolutionary terms that we turned our backs on that way of life. Our 'genetic memories' still yearn for that pattern, but we were lured away by 'shiny things'. We were programmed to consume and led astray by fantasies of romance, and power attainable by sheer greed.

 We wanted better paid jobs so we could afford better cars, better holidays, better clothes and more shiny things. We wanted romance. We wanted power. We became compartmentalised in our little cars, little houses, little offices. We moved into boxes within boxes. We were not ready. We tried to compensate, but most people do not know what it is they are trying to compensate for, they do not understand the importance of these bonds, which are so easily severed by partitions and distance, and by the lure of the shiny things...

 Brothers and sisters, let us not deceive ourselves. We are animals. Although we have ascended to some level of 'civilisation' we still require animal things, some more than others: water, food, shelter, sex, and a place to shit. Much as we'd like to think of ourselves as cerebral and semi-angelic, most of us are not.

 It is a pet theory of mine that many modern marriages/relationships fail because these support networks do not exist, and one or both partners makes the mistake of thinking that everything that their soul needs can be found in this other person. Of course, such is not beyond the bounds of possibility, but it is far less common than marriage.

 Hope and fear is what drives most people to marry. Hope that this is the one person who can make us whole, and fear that we might end up alone; the rest marry to conform (it's the done thing), but with a proper network - a tribe - around us, loneliness need never be a problem and if you need to conform, conform to something you believe in.

 A tribe need not be very large. There are people who can satisfy more than one need: be a companion, a mentor, friend and lover, all rolled into one. Thus a few such types could cover all the bases, as it were.

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 For me, such a tribe would need to be very open-minded, and seldom does one find more open-minded people than on forums such as these. There are also some very closed-minded individuals not too far from where I currently stand, but I would expect nothing less from people. The trick - and sometimes the most fun part - is to separate the wheat from the chavs.

 There are things that I would bring to the proverbial table and things others would bring; together we would have enough for everyone. Together we would form a united structure from which we all would receive whatever we needed - be that comfort, understanding and companionship, sex, guidance, discipline, or punishment.

 I don't need the shiny things. Granted, I desire some of them, but I do not need them. I would rather be appreciated or despised for who I am than what I have, or have not. Materialism has its uses in this day and age, but those who are consumed with it are soon lost to the sirensong. The consumer becomes the consumed.