In his farewell address, he said, “Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course.”
It’s easy to fall in love with the idea that we live in a detached and distant situation. To imagine that culture and society and events out there have no impact on the lives we live.
The coal plant across the country, the goings on in the CEO’s office, the impact of tech on our culture… none of them are very far away. We have more leverage and connection than we want to admit.
Insulation is scarce. Technology, the competition and the shifts in media come for us, whether we seek them out or not.
It doesn’t pay to fret about things we can’t influence, but we might be able to influence more than we realize.
Perhaps isolation was useful for George. It’s clearly not true now.
