Pluribus, Unim

a few weeks ago, i wrote about community. i wrote about the weight of this word, its long arms, the shelter and solidity of things like responsibility, accountability, mutuality.

but this week, i’ve been thinking of the opposite of “community,” of the terrible chill felt in its absence. of the kind of fear we’re left with, when we come to believe we’re ultimately alone on this earth, in our city, inside our homes.

i’ve been thinking how much in this world implies this very thing, telling us we are alone, atomized — politicians who thrive on the fallacy of an adversarial, zero-sum system. advertisers who convince us we’re a “brand,” urge us to acquire features and upgrades that will make that brand more appealing, more marketable, more aspirational to others. we are packages, curated experiences expressed through screens and labels and postures, our reality increasingly located in the perception of others — which comes to replace our own perception. in turn, those around us become an audience, or customers, or competitors, or icons towards which we aspire. what a strange sort of loneliness, this conglomeration of markets and stages.

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