Opinion | The Antidote to Authoritarianism

And In America, where the cost of labor is high, you’re doing everything yourself. You’re cooking and you’re caring for the kids and you’re not in an intergenerational household where the weight can be distributed among different people, some of whom are working full- time, some of whom are not, and you have stay-at-home, usually, women. – And it —— – It has got to give. Something’s got to give. And it seems to me that what gives is community. – What gives is hosting. – 100 percent. It is easier to be alone. Well, we say that, but it’s actually devastating. I should say short-term — it is easier on the question of the day to be alone. Yes. Like, if Americans don’t gather more, if we — and there’s so many ways to do it. We will slide even more into authoritarianism because we actually don’t know each other. Every legal expert in authoritarianism basically says the antidote to authoritarianism is connection. It’s knowing your neighbors. It’s knowing that, hey, how bad could they be? Their first concert was a Toni Braxton concert, right. It’s these tiny little social bridges. And part of modern life, I think, is not assuming that there’s a way to host. Not assuming — I almost want to go over there and get this framework of a fancy dinner party or whatever your mental model is of what it means to gather out of your head.