I have a zoom meeting that I have to prepare for.

 Communication is critical to society and changes in communication impact society in very fundamental ways that are difficult to understand except in hindsight.  In this regard, I note the demise of radio, newspapers and magazines, the rise of various forms of cyber-related communication, and the increasing reluctance to engage in face to face communication.  I credit these changes with making it increasingly possible for each of us to live in an alternative universe with intellectual rules of the road that are increasingly different than those of our next-door neighbor.  This encourages us to advocate major changes in the way in which we relate, one to another.  It also helps to explain the intransigence characteristic of all of the various divisions that currently roil our political scene.  "Advances" in technology strengthen these trends as illustrated by the growth of Social Media and Zoom.

We claim to live in a democracy where everybody has a voice, yet we rigorously restrict our ability to voice contentious thought - requiring that we express ourselves in carefully curated channels that eschew diversity of thought and self-regulate participation.  Society has "progressed" to the point that we rigorously self-censor our thinking and any of us that refuse to accept this situation are ostracized, shunned, and ignored.  Verbal interactions between our various political leaders are designed to feed the beast rather than deal with the issue.  Almost nowhere do we see honest, intelligent, polite discussion of contentious issues.  The more momentous the issue, the less thought and discussion.  In this way, our precious feelings are far, far more important than the threat of nuclear obliteration.

Instead of addressing the most important issues facing us, we search out those that we can get out inadequate minds around and insist that they be the issues that drive our non-existent national discussion.  This "discussion" will determine whether we elect "The Donald" or "The Brat."  It will go on to determine the way in which we deal with several millennia of killing in the Middle East and the argument among Chinese people as to where their capital should be and how they should organize their society.  We will go on ignoring all disagreements killing huge numbers of people all over the "undeveloped" world, because those societies are not really all that important and we definitely do not want to think about the various ways in which they are infiltrating our own society.  We get away with this idiocy because most of the impact is still being felt in those parts of the society that do not count.  Where necessary, we just move to a different neighborhood or state.

Sorry, that is all I can give you today, I have a zoom meeting that I have to prepare for.  We are discussing the need to provide abandoned pets better nutrition and more pleasant living conditions as they await adoption.