The more I learn about Mark Zuckerberg, the more I like him. Last Sunday, while I was driving home to San Diego from Los Angeles, I decided to listen to Zuckerberg on Facebook live, filmed in his backyard while he was cooking some BBQ for friends. He was talking about everything from Artificial Intelligence (he thinks it’s good) to global health issues and immigration. It was very cool. The rumor is that Zuckerberg is interested in politics and would like to run for president someday. I don’t know if this is true, it seems like he could actually do more for humanity doing what he is currently doing, but it made me think. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a person lead our country who is a smart, compassionate, visionary leader – who makes decisions based on data and facts, and who is above the pettiness of partisan politics? I realize that despite his obvious flaws, some people voted for Donald Trump because they thought they were getting some version of that, but the divisions in our country have never been deeper and the pettiness has never been greater. Political parties and blind partisanship are slowly eroding the fabric of our country. It seems like the only people who can get elected these days are those who can demonize their opponents the most. Like most people, I have great friends who are liberal, and I also have great friends who are conservative – and with some very small exceptions, they are not that different from each other. Our political system is at a breaking point – and something has to give. Hopefully, the net outcome of this historically divisive period in our history will be that a new political apparatus will emerge – perhaps one without political parties. If so, it might be worth the pain and disappointment we are experiencing right now.
Inflation has impacted all of us. The price of almost everything has spiked faster and harder than at any time since the 80s. Few things can obliterate a modern economy more than out-of-control inflation.
For most people, there is little upside to writing about the January 6th hearings, but as you probably know by now, I don’t worry about those things. We all must stand for something. The hearings have almost everyone taking sides before a single witness is called. Democrats believe that the events of January 6th were a calculated effort to undermine our democracy by demolishing two of the most sacred tenants of our nation, free elections, and the peaceful transition of power.
Most people consider themselves either a conservative or a liberal. I think if we forget political parties, which flip their positions on things all of the time, and instead focus on the actual definition of what it means to be a conservative and what it means to be a liberal, we might be able to temper the emotional reactions some of us have with political discourse.