Margaret

Evans

conversation, regarding anything that can otherwise be texted, seems rude at this point? I think we’ll feel the same way about face-to-face conversations 20 years from now, whether it be a random inter-action on the street or having dinner with actual friends. It will seem offensive to ‘future us’ if a person attempts actual verbal contact.”

My take: I truly hope Bill has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek here. I fear he does not.

Rachel Rabbit White, poet: “We’ve spent years caught on digital hamster wheels, spinning solipsistically in our most base states: angry, jealous, needing to be accepted. It’s almost cute, in a tragic way, the fact that we’ve been driven by such a human and vulnerable need — to be liked. Our continued embrace of the internet, after we realized it was making us spiritually decrepit, is embarrassing.”

My take: Preach, Rachel! And when you do, repeat that phrase “spiritually decrepit” over and over. It hurts, but we need to hear it.

Dino Stamatopoulos, comedian, writer: “The idea of cancel culture will be embarrassing. But I’m too scared of being canceled to say that.”

My take: And yet he did say it. Right there in the NY Times . Seems like cause for hope to me!

And now I will add my own prediction to the mix, which is really more like a wish:

I think that “future us” will cringe at the way we once treated each other over politics. I’ve read enough social science to be convinced that our place on the left/ right spectrum is mostly a matter of temperament, largely innate – as much nature as nurture – and very hard to change. I look forward to the day when this last acceptable prejudice – acceptable hatred, to put it more bluntly – is no longer tolerated by society.

And I hope my husband gets his flying car.