Left with the Buddy System...

Folk #1: It starts early in life, and I think the feeling continues to grow as we experience the world and the people in it. We are truly stuck in our own heads, in our own bodies, perceiving and acting in the world as  unique entities. Sure, at the same time, we are constantly checking in with others, there is the social nature of our human existence, and we are always in a social contract & in an on-going, never-ending conversation with our fellow humans. None of us are truly an island, or alone, unless we have totally fallen off the cliff.  Total isolation is a certain road to madness.  Still we are all on the spectrum: social or anti-social? For most of us there is the day to day query: "I'm okay, are you okay?" Always checking in, verifying, testing the waters, sampling the sanity of our fellow human beings. Lately, and who knows, maybe it's always been so, there seems to be a major break in the fabric of our collective existence. Our consensus reality lacks consensus. And the breach is not a small crack, but a wide, yawning, canyon. Folks just don't see eye to eye. We aren't even living in the same reality. Events happen and folks can't even agree on basic facts. It's quite disturbing & yes, alienating. Also, there is this distinct feeling & impression that all of our institutions are failing us. Logic, rationality, reason, and good cheer seem like quaint fictions. It also feels like no one is truly in charge, (and they aren't), there is no big daddy looking out for us, and those power-hungry folks who do assume the levers of the machinery are corrupt, stupid, cruel, greedy. Many of these folks actually intend to do us harm. Paranoia! So, there is a bit of a retreat, a turning inward, leading to the insight that we truly are on our own. Now, if we are lucky, we know & live with like-minded folks, folks who we can pull close, folks who look out for us, and who we look out for too. We offer each other a helping hand in normal times, as well as in times of deep, over-powering stress. All we have is our own agency & the agency of our buddies. It is the buddy system lifestyle. Now of course, we can make this buddy system a closely held thing, or more admirably, and idealistically, a super-expansive, world-embracing kind of thing. You know, following in the footsteps of that great teacher and moral philosopher, cultural icon, sweater-wearing hero, Mister Rodgers?! "Please, won't you be my neighbor?" Yes, indeed, be a neighbor to the Universe. Hmmm... but what about those others? What about the intolerant ones, the deplorables who live amongst us, those who want to hurt us and hurt those we love? Live & let live is a nice idea, but of course, the evil-doers should be shunned, shamed, brought to justice, and made to face up to the consequences of their actions. Day to day, it is best to avoid those folks, I mean, avoid them like the plague. Still, being neighborly with the neighbors? That's the way to do it.