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[–] 18 points 6 days ago (3 children)

It used to be easier in smaller cities and villages where you were forced to know a lot of people. One of the side effects of being able to live more private lives in the modern age is this lack. In the same way that churches do provide communities (but I still think religion causes far more harm than good).

This is why social safety nets are important - because the baseline should not be "I know a guy".

Social safety nets for trucks? Maybe not specifically. But you can easily rent a truck in most places these days - $20 for a couple of hours.

But then again, if you think about isolation… that's where some of the ideas about witches came from in days past. Imagine a woman, losing her husband, living alone, struggling to survive. Society is more "spiritual" and so susceptible to believing some of those old women might be witches. It certainly happened in some instances.

Ideally, I wish we had a society and culture in the US of knowing our neighbors again. Not too much. I don't want to know of their politics and religion and all the other things I probably disaagree with, but I'd love to be able to give them a cup of sugar if they ran out, or help move a sofa, or all those little things we used to do a bit more for each other.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago* (2 children)

    I don't want to know of their politics and religion and all the other things I probably disaagree with, but I'd love to be able to give them a cup of sugar if they ran out, or help move a sofa, or all those little things we used to do a bit more for each other.

    I think about this often and I agree with you... I genuinely like the idea but then, what do you do if you learn that that neighbour votes for someone who has openly stated that he wants to kill me and my family and people like us? I've never really found the answer to that...

    Edit: not in a US political context, just in general

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  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    Well, that's why I don't actually make the effort to meet my neighbors. heh.

    And I live in a metro that's decently blue, but we are mixed enough here that most people don't really talk politics much.

    But hey… I lived 15 years in an area where literally every public television (like waiting rooms at mechanics or doctors) was Fox News. Here? It's HGTV or at one place the Weather Channel. So… I'll take it as an improvement. heh.

    But really, I'd like to live someplace where fascism was still an idea that everyone agreed was fucked. :(

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