cooperation amidst the chaff
how extraordinary the loss, and the gain:
the pandemic has nixed gathering together in a house for a family party,
we have lost the warm womb of a cousin’s home,
the shared food and drink,
the easy flowing camaraderie of the face-to-face,
that which had done so much for us to feel the sharedness of our humanity,
now Zoom and Facetime can allow us to gather virtually,
the Internet connecting the far-flung and the nearby
into an equality with ease of access
to a window to each other and to a group identity,
that ease can hold us
more closely in its distance
than face-to-face could often achieve,
in a house or another central place,
like will find like, friends find friends,
families group into their own subsets,
so that while the physical closeness
allows an intensity of relationship denied in the virtual,
it also allows a distance and lack of connection
as people choose the familiar,
the closeby, the neighbors in the same town,
if conditions are right online,
a ceremony can pull us together,
a pattern of sharing can pull us together,
can let folks be seen, be heard, be appreciated,
and those physically distant,
who could not make it to a house or place nearby,
can find their selves and contributions treasured,
our electronic webs can allow us to be known and to be connected,
yet we should also fear the predators of the herd out there,
who seek to know us so that they can use us to their own advantage,
maybe to monetize our relationships,
or maybe the social mediaists who monitor us to manipulate us,
who profit producing difference and conflict,
within the chaff that swirls through the virtual ether,
it is possible to cooperate more than compete,
I love the possibilities inherent in Wikipedia and in open sourcing,
for they, like with Zoom and Facetime, show it is possible to find a way
to allow us to transcend the boxes
and create a compelling intimacy I thought denied to us,
to create the bonds of community where we work together
to build more and surer than we can create
within the prevalence of division and subtraction.
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