So there’s 50 days until the election and I’m deeply concerned about the future of this country and, to be honest, myself. I did myself no favors by recently binge listening to Robert Evans’ outstanding podcast series “It Could Happen Here“. I’d like to think that he’s being an alarmist in the scenarios he raises on how close we are to the 2nd American Civil War but I’m a hell of a lot less confident about that than i was two years ago, or even 6 months ago.
It’s evident on my social media that our divisions as a society are growing ever wider. People who I could talk with even if we disagreed are now punch drunk on the latest Qanon conspiracy theory. People who I agree with on most issues casually dismiss the very real grievances that are being felt by those they dismiss as “deplorables”. This is not a great course to be on and I’m not entirely sure how we get off this ride.
How do you strike up a conversation with someone who only seems to communicate in Meme’s cribbed from the shittiest most fact free corners of the internet? How do you avoid closing yourself in a bubble where the only voices you hear are those agreeing with you in some endless online circle jerk?
Basically I’m concerned that ~40% of this country has embraced hate filled nihilism and another ~40% of the country has embraced an attitude of, for lack of way of saying it, “I’m sick of your idiot, racist bullshit”. This is not a formula for a stable and prosperous country. Yet it’s impossible to get away from online and thanks to the pandemic there are few other outlets to interact.
I don’t have any solutions to offer. I feel like the richest people in America are all to happy to point the rest of us at each other and say “look, there’s the problem” while they transfer more of the nation’s wealth into their own pockets and I’m feeling a little powerless right now.
My Thinking Corner 
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