I hope the message [of The Tribe] is a positive one. The notion of what happens in a series is totally different to what a series is about. Everyone knows what happens in The Tribe but that is not necessarily what the series is about and I would hope that the Mall Rats tribe and their aspirations and triumphs through their various encounters and adversities is a shining testament which will inspire a viewer to realise that human grasp can, and does, extend beyond reach and that there is always hope whereby good triumphs in the end.
The prime underlying thematic is young people rebuilding a new world and in that context the theme is a profound one about conscientiousness determining existence or existence determining conscientiousness.
This question and theme has challenged humanity since time began and it is doubtful whether there is an answer to that question.
The soul of that question has inspired some of the greatest political minds of our time and although Marxist dogma might fall on the side that existence determines conscientiousness - I hope that the Tribe portrays that conscientiousness, in the end determines existence.
Raymond Thompson
(original source no longer found online)