Social Beings

• Sociological critics of modernity argued that large cities produced anonymity: a kind of 'generalized otherness' is caused by having such a large mass of people who have never met before, which was contrasted to rural towns and settlements where communities were closely knit. Urban metropolises were supposedly anomic and impersonal. Today, that analysis is no longer valid: within urban centres, distinctive neighbourhoods have developed with close relationships. People's consciousness and habits are more developed through the closeness, which produces affect rather than detachment. The place where the real anomie and alienation exists is in the suburbs, with the added twist that it the isolation is due less to of the density of the population, than to the sprawl of street, shopping, and housing design. People don't normally talk to their neighbours or develop close ties. They don't develop local mores and aesthetics like urban communities do. They are less ethnically diverse, and more likely to be dominated by mass-culture. The numbing of human potential through mindless routine makes communication static and boredom the norm. Thus, is no coincidence that the majority of social movements bypass suburban residents, or force the more conscious ones to travel long distances. And suburbanites are rarely socialized enough to effectively participate: the need for easy-to-consume solutions produces a lack of energy and inability to effectively struggle. But since the majority of the population lives in suburbs, no movement that seriously seeks social change can ignore the plight of people living there.
• It's enjoyable to have as many good interactions as possible, to build and share social worlds with other people. And there is no substitute for face-to-face, fully-embodied communication for that. I don't want to hide from real people behind a computer screen, mediated by thousands of meaningless signs and identities. There's no responsibility for your actions in that: it is complete freedom, but complete alienation. Reality can be coded, but the code needs to be balanced by one's actual experience. If that experience is the problem, if it's not possible to have good interactions, then as painful as that is, it will constantly derail living life unless some progress is made. You can start from anywhere in a virtual reality, but every moment spent is taking away from the value your life could potentially have now. I promise that being in the present will be vastly more meaningful than anything the virtual world could offer you, and will open new paths. Interpersonal skills, like technical skills and the ability to act on your own needs, are essential to making life more enjoyable.
• I admit my flaws and remain aware of them. I do my best to change the little habits and behaviours that reproduce them, when it is possible. If it isn't, I don't get frustrated, but I do have an image of where I should be that I would like to achieve. If someone points out a flaw, I don't get hurt or offended, but I ideally respond: what could I really have done otherwise, given the influences on my decision-making abilities so far? To put this another way: if you get defensive when problems are pointed out that affect you, would you really want other people to suffer from the same condition? Would you really recommend it, for example, if you had children you were trying to raise?
• Even the most serious or stoic person has a less serious unconscious playing beneath the surface. It is amusing to see this undermine their pretenses.
• One of the most important goals the left can follow is the care of the self: affective expression, emotional well-being, and personality development.
• Being healthy, by developing good habits, and avoiding self-destructive behaviour, such as depending on TV, food, sugar, etc., solves many problems.