(dark & ugly essay warning; these feelings are just my feelings at this moment, not judgmental commentary on any reader here or elsewhere)
The idea of Unity is a sham that will never happen. We are all divided by invisible, unbreachable barriers of social standing.
We were having an amazing discussion last night, when I asked my husband how many people we could have the level of discourse we were having there were in our real world. The answer came up fairly thin. Sure, there were some, many of which have ended up living far enough away that we only see them once a year at Mini-Woodstock, most of which are people we met and befriended years and years ago. I am wondering if moving to this area was not a HUGE mistake. It seems chock full of bubbas or McMansion wannabees.
Most of our immediate circle these days are… how to say it? Sweet, adorable, fun, lovable people who think in totally alien ways to our thinking. Its not only their lack of education, their very interests and ability to make the leaps are different. Its hard to say what really binds us to them, other than convenience, other than the commonality of our social standing as members of the midwest rust belt working class.
Here on the Tubes, it is somewhat easier to find kindreds out of the thousands, at least per subject matter. You can find allies and equals to carry on nearly any level of discourse you choose. Of course, those relationships would never carry over to the real world, unless your social position is similar.
The truth of the matter is I fit nowhere. People like me don’t.