Some stuff

The other night, I had a discussion with a kid who was heavily invested in his role in the bus project. We spoke, drunkenly, about a lot of things that night, but one subject sticks in my mind.

One of his main motivations for his political involvement was his opinion that community, as a backbone of society, was dying. He made a passionate argument based on the fact that the institutions the he used to define community, like churches, clubs (Elks, Eagles, etc.) and the like, are declining.

At first blush, and on the Fox news level, this makes sense. If one were to use this as one's only criteria, you could say community is declining and we're moving to a state of individual isolation. However, in my opinion, this is an extremely short sighted view.

Community itself is a product of social evolution. If you want a little more detail, a great place to start is Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel". Community once meant getting along while 10-12 of us shared a cave. Now, it means something else. Community is evolving. Where once it meant we all sat together at a common table and argued, it may now mean that we all sit at our individual keyboards and argue.

Is this a bad thing? Eh, maybe... maybe not. Personally, I don't think so. However, my opinion doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is that social norms, like species, are born, have their day in the sun, and die. To attach true social survival to the continuity of a fabricated social structure is foolish.

I should and could expand on this line of thinking but I'm tired so I'll quit for now.

In other news.... Mike, who is to Portland service industry folks what Zeus is to the Greek gods, lost a bunch of weight and looks great. I command certain other member of the service industry (Stormy, I'm looking at you) to reward him with the sex. The Night Light has apparently slipped off the hip scale enough that I can now go back in and hang out with Mike. You should too.