The hypocrisy has reached new levels

[whyBish]

I am told there is an Arab proverb that goes, "Me and my brothers against my cousins.  Me and my cousins against the world."  The proverb may be Arab, the sentiment is, it seems, universal.

Yes, distance seems to be the key (though not neccessarily geographical distance. Japanese philosophy (I'm only second hand here ;) ) talks about circles of association(? correct word?), where you look after family first, neighbours second, and outsiders last. (Compare this to the Christian (amongst others) philiosphy of even treating the stranger as ones own.)
In NZ the clearest illustration of the philosophy of 'distance' is in sport, rugby in particular, where at all of the various levels, your team are like your family, and your opposition are bitterly 'hated' (well, maybe too strong a term), but members from both teams may actually play in a higher grade on the same team, where the pattern is repeated there. (E.g. local club rugby through the grades, up through provincial and National rugby).
I suppose that there is some subject area on group theory and assocosiation out there that would be more enlightening (sociology?) :)