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Paulina's avatar

I love all of your pieces Mattias but this one probably tops the rest...until the next one, ha. I'll share something that resonated: I am looking for work and so recently through an ex-boss of mine, I received an offer for a consulting gig. Due to the seniority of the reference, it was virtually a guarantee. Much to my shock, I was then asked to do a "one way interview" whereby I would be answering a machine's questions on a timer. I figured out that if I pressed pause, I could see my questions which I would then spend hours rehearsing, memorizing and timing as if I was preparing for a tv audition. It was the most reductive and dehumanizing experience, so much so that I lost the desire to work with my former colleagues. I later went to the park to read a book, it was a beautiful day after all, only to find people either on big headphones or working on laptops. Then following the catastrophic US debate, I countered some of my Oxford classmates that I wish to resist the technocracy that's around us everywhere and that I'm against these wars. Again to my shock, I was told that "wars are normal", "political systems are imperfect", "don't know where you get your news from", "your truth is not my truth" and "democracy protects the right of minorities". It didn't even upset my that much anymore, but it made me sad to lose so many people.

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Jen Koenig's avatar

This is not happening everywhere. I live in a small lake community in the American south. People stop and chat all the time. Neighbors help neighbors, despite political or religious differences, in fact it's considered rude to talk politics or religion until you know someone well. Kids ride their bikes outside and come home for dinner or dark, whichever comes first. My daughter rides her scooter all over town and knows many people. She's been doing this since she was nine and it's not uncommon. We all live around the lake and spend a lot of time jumping off the pier at the park and boating.

It's not perfect of course, there are the Karens and town scolds but for the most part, it's a great community. People aren't demoralized everywhere.

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