....There are no exit ramps on that road. That's what I fear we are on right now. We need an exit ramp, we need one now and we have to work together to do it. That's why the scavenger hunt in NYC was so brilliant. It brought people together and made them solve it together. We need that.
Agreed on your analogy. We need more Mamdani's that help rebuild that sense of community, and remind people of our commonality, not our differences. What he's selling is really an old fashioned idea, but it's the best one.
Absolutely agree. I just had a neighbor sell his house so new neighbors moved in. Most of my neighbors are of the maga influence as was my old neighbor. Meeting my new neighbor, our conversation was so stilted and awkward that I realized after, I knew what my old neighbor was and knew how to talk...
With him but this new guy, who is he? The fear of finding out that he's the same or worse as the others in this hood held me back. I almost started the conversation with, "What's you're story?" But caught myself halfway through. We need to find a way to get back on track. Where we can have easy....
...conversations with people we don't know. Without having a panic attack right at the beginning of a conversation. I realize now, that I just don't know how to navigate this.
You're not alone. It's easy for people to talk their shit and be more free on the Internet where they can hide behind a keyboard and screen. But in person? All of your idiosyncrasies are on display and you don't have time to come up with a clever line or comeback, so we stumble. The art of good
, meaningful conversation has been lost on most people. But we need to get it back if we want to move away from extremism of all kinds. You shouldn't be afraid of your new neighbors or talking to them, but I get where the apprehension comes from.
I agree, there has to be some sort of commonality. My husband said living out here with space around us, it could easily be livestock, gardening, or raising dogs. I can talk about those easily but man, my heart jumped into my throat and I felt like it rendered me mute which is funny if you knew me.