A healthy politics - the process by which we pursue and effectuate our system of self-government - demands the recognition of our manifold diversity. In fact, a truly healthy politics demands the celebration of our diversity.
We are all different. We are all "equal," but we are all different. Very different! The strength of any group - the strength of any nation, any family, any society - will ultimately depend on whether or not those who are part of the group truly understand - and celebrate - the diversity that is the reality of who we are. Faced with an understanding of the truth that we are "different," any group will be strong only to the extent that those in the group recognize that, despite our diversity, our "plurality" as Hannah Arendt puts it, "we are in this together."
We are "in this together" not because we are the same. We should remind ourselves that we are "in this together" precisely because our differences are so apparent. If we didn't tell ourselves about our interdependence, and about our commitment to one another, we might not notice how critical it is that we are "in this together." I am talking in general terms, but I am talking specifically about the United States of America.
Pull out a dollar bill. That eagle on the reverse, holding an olive branch on one side, and a sheaf of arrows on the other, bears this talisman in its beak: "E Pluribus Unam." You know what it means: "Out of many, one."
"Out of many, one." In other words, we are all very different, but we are "in this together." We are all different, but we are all "equal," when we consider ourselves as citizens, and we are "in this together."
This understanding of our diversity and interdependence is what makes us a nation - not "blood" or "conquest." What makes us a nation is that commitment found on our dollar bill, a commitment made famous, although in other words, by the Three Musketeers: "All For One And One For All."
Our political polarization, much noticed and much decried - and much worried about, and for very good reasons - goes contrary to the truth to which we, as a nation, have pledged ourselves. Therefore, let me issue a warning to which we should all take heed. If we want to maintain our national pledge to each other, we must beware of the evil of the algorithms that are, more and more, defining and delimiting the world in which we actually live.
More and more, we don't live in what I often call the "real world." We live "online." There are many advantages to doing that; however, there is a massive danger which we need to understand. Contrary to what we might suppose, the vast "diversity" of the online world, which is often what attracts us to it, is systematically undermined by the portals and platforms that actually constitute the online world we encounter. Whether we log in to "X," or to "Instagram," or to "Facebook," or to "TikTok," or to "YouTube," or to any other online platform (all of which are owned and operated of, by, and for some giant corporation), what we find "online" is not the "diversity" we find when we go walking around in the "real world."
Algorithms decide what we see, what news we get, what pictures are presented to our eyes, and what opinions are brought to our attention. Far from opening us up to new experiences, when we enter the "online world" we are ruthlessly furnished with more and more of what the algorithms have determined we already know about - what we already think.
Please be aware of the evil of the algorithms.
The future of self-government in the United States of America depends on our ability to extricate ourselves from the segregated and siloed online world. The future of self-government depends on our ability to realize and celebrate the diversity, the plurality, and the differences that truly define who we are.
We are so different. But we are equal. And....
We Are In This Together
oooOOOooo
Given the date on which I am posting these thoughts (and I just noticed the date, having finished writing down the thoughts with which you have been presented), let me officially declare that this particular blog posting should be understood as a "Valentine" to the United States of America, a Valentine message dedicated to all of us who are here in this country and are prepared to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to the proposition that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth.
💘
Image Credits:
(1) - https://x.com/
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