For various reasons... namely a book I'm reading, an email I received, everything on the news, and rumours about a total collapse of the world economy... my mind is bent on trouble. Is Western Civilization doomed? Are resources turning scarce? Will the war get bigger? What if inflation sky-rockets? What am I doing playing hockey in the middle of all this!? But because of this random book I'm reading my focus is on (in my biased opinion) the scariest, most sinister, and definitely most direct question of them all for me is... can I trust my neighbor?
Would I place myself at the mercy of a complete stranger? No... but neighbor? ... well... NO... I'm not sure if it's CSI episodes or what, but I'm slanted to the distrust side right from the start... a kind of 'plan for the worst, hope for the best' mentality... don't get me wrong... commonality is the most amazing thing when you find it... like.. yay diversity and all... but this same diversity has begun to show an ugly side... where suddenly we wake up to find we have very little in common with others and a whole lot more not in common...
And I think it translates into growing isolation and distrust towards others around us... between groups of people... between one person and another... and we see it everyday in fenced communities, 24/7 security guards, cameras on every street corner, metal detectors... This is no longer the kind of Ivory Tower Real World LA diversity where everyone learns from each other and we are thus all enriched in some amazing 'live and let live' utopia... This is becoming a complete rift where 'either we become them or they become us'... where we don't trust the inside of people around us so we're forced to control them on the outside... where Christians control actions... Atheists control speech... Courts set precedent... jails are overcrowded... and politics has moved from dissent to disdain... this is a little more than 'good fences make good neighbours'... this is an are we even neighbours at all?... It's no longer a melting pot but a very eclectic meat and vegetable soup... and chances are not everyone even got in the bowl in the first place... ... ... ?... ... ... ummmm... okay but for real... What exactly ties us together anymore...? American Idol?
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