Societies are groups of people sharing interests, beliefs, and needs. They come in all sizes. A family of closely related individuals is the smallest functioning unit. Some families consist only of a man and woman living together with shared resources, duties, and benefits. Some families are more developed; and they might contain as many as six generations, with grandparents in varying degrees of “greatness,” aunts and uncles, and cousins with varying degrees of closeness. This combination of people is a tribe. At the extreme end of the definition of society is the world composed of many nations. In between are individual nations of many families. A society called a nation usually is defined by a geographic boundary. That is not always true. Some nations, such as the USA, include areas outside of a single contiguous area.

Many societies have existed for centuries among people scattered all around the world. The most obvious group is the Jewish society. This group has survived for about 3500 years in pretty much its present form. The Roman Catholic Church is another society that has survived for a long time—about 1700 years. It has members in almost every nation in the world with members from most ethnic and racial groups. If the Roman Church is an extension of the Roman Empire, the Empire has survived in altered forms for more than 2500 years. Islam, also spread among many nations, has lasted about 1400 years.

Human societies usually start as tribes with some kind of organization of related individuals, with a father or a father-type figure as leader, although there have been many societies with females in leadership. If two or more tribes can agree on leadership, a new society forms to prevent inter-tribal warfare, for mutual protection, or to share resources. Then, as the larger society grows, leaders of small tribes compete for leadership of the new group. If the society remains together, the group becomes some kind of feudal organization with a single leader and many lower level subgroups with their own leaders. Eventually, lower level leaders who are powerful enough, force division of power between them and the highest leader. When a large number of people are competing for leadership, especially if most citizens are joining the competition, the society4 degenerates into anarchy. Disintegration frequently occurs within a few generations; but the entire process might take many centuries. Sometimes a new, strong leader acquires power and brings order back, although not always for the best welfare of every individual and not permanently, unless the weaknesses that brought the strong leader into power are corrected. These steps of evolution are true for all kinds of societies, from small social societies to international organizations.

Just before the end of the society, everyone, each with independent and contradictory demands, contributes to leadership, resulting in anarchy and chaos. As the society falls apart, members separate into smaller, more cohesive groups with similar beliefs and values; or members allow the development of a supreme leader with power over all activities and property. More often, the new leader comes from another society after it conquers the society, merges with it someway.

Societies that have capable leaders and maintain a balance between their resources, needs, and environments, and maintain peaceful relations with other societies that could help or harm them survive in peace and prosperity. Continued success of a society means that it continues to exist in pretty much the same form, with changes that occur only because they are essential to survival of the society. Failure of a society means that the society has changed drastically because foreign and incompatible traditions replaced the original traditions. Every member of a society must recognize traditions of the society of which they are part, accept them, and participate in the security, services, and commerce of the society. Societies that acquire many immigrants that refuse to accept traditions of the native group cannot survive very long. If societies fail to maintain harmony, they soon fall because of internal strife or become too weak and too disorganized to survive internal strife and conflicts with other societies. The end of a society is when another society absorbs it or it simply disappears.

The structure of societies is similar to a pyramid. The social pyramid is composed of six groups of social functions: traditions, security, services, commerce, leadership, and families. Each part must maintain its integrity, or the pyramid becomes unstable. This description holds for all kinds of organizations, but the following discussion applies mostly to national societies and in limited ways to a few other very large societies, such as large religions and international businesses. Many of the comments are applicable only to the USA and societies structured pretty much the same way that the USA is structured.

The traditions wall is the most important of the four walls for the strength of the society pyramid. It is composed of language, history of the society, social organizations, attitudes toward religion, and other related functions. Traditions provide continuity to keep all members of current and subsequent generations committed to survival of the society. During times of stress, societies without consistent traditions fall apart.This does not mean traditions cannot change—but they must change slowly enough for new leaders and all young and new members of societies to learn and assimilate the changes. Otherwise, members forget or shun the purpose for existence of the society; and members go their own ways, resulting in anarchy.

The culture of a nation must be maintained pretty much in the form that made it successful. If changes are necessary, they should be introduced slowly and with extreme concern for potential unintended consequences that could lead to decay of the society. Immigration is beneficial for any nation; but immigrants must be encouraged to accept the language and traditions of the host society, and integrate with the host society.