Cultural exchange and clashes
Even minor cultural differences can cause clashes. I think it's worth it to try to work through them. I can't dictate what others choose to do.
My daughter lost a friend a while back over personal differences, at least some of which were cultural. I did my part to try to help them get past it, but you can't force people to get along.
While her friend isn't an "immigrant", her family is a blend of a couple of cultures which are just different enough from my daughter's culture to create a bit of friction here and there. I suppose it was too much friction for a couple of intelligent, but bullheaded, girls to get past. I may have been more upset over the split than they were.
It made me think back to my own younger days. When I was a teen my family befriended a family who had recently moved from Iraq. We hung out a lot and learned quite a bit from each other (I still remember how to count to ten in whatever language they spoke, as well as several other words) and shared recipes and meals. My sisters and I had a great time with them with no problem.
But, there were some incidents between the adults that caused a rift between our families. At the time I wasn't aware of what had happened, I just knew we suddenly stopped hanging out with them. When I got older I found out what had happened. The fact that their parents didn't understand why my parents would be upset over it was what caused the final rift. That seems cultural to me.
I still enjoy being exposed to other cultures. I think all cultures have good points and bad points, plus some things that really aren't good or bad, but that I just don't personally care for. I mean, I despise professional sports and government employee worship, two things that seem rampant in the culture that surrounds me-- so it's not just "alien cultures" that I find fault in.
I feel like a SHTF event is imminent. Notice I don't say I think it is, rather it's just a feeling. Possibly triggered by the upcoming election.
I don't have a crystal ball. I'm almost definitely wrong.
If you can see it coming, it's not going to happen. That's almost a guarantee.
Just like the Coronapocalypse came at us out of nowhere, triggered by unexpected government overreactions to a fairly normal virus, a more serious event will also be a surprise. Consider the Coronapanic a practice run. It should have shown you the holes in your preps if you were paying attention.
I lucked out with the panicdemic because I was ready. Well, maybe it wasn't completely luck; I've prepped for years "just in case", and it finally paid off. I was pretty sure I wouldn't see it coming when it finally happened, and I didn't. But it didn't matter because I stay ready all the time-- and I have done so since well before the Y2K fizzle. I intend to be just as ready, if not more ready, the next time something ...
Sometimes it's good to just listen to people's stories without interrupting, even when you know the stories are nonsense.
My 2nd wife used to tell of a ghost that lived in her house when she was a kid. It was an interesting story even though I didn't believe it. I learned quickly that her family was very prone to believe anything as long as it fit with their magical worldview.
Other people tell me stories about beneficial things political government can do. These stories are no more true-- in the sense of being objective reality-- than ghost stories, but they can still be informative if you want to know which particular superstitions a person is living under.
Interrupt and you'll never hear the whole tale. Listen and you might be entertained by some fantastical tales of magical realms. Just don't bet your life on them being true.
My nature is such that I simply can't see government as a solution to anything. This puts me at odds with most of the rest of my species.
Yes, I think "social media" has become a horror. This doesn't mean I want government to regulate it; it means I think people who don't like it (or are too dumb to know not to take it at face value) should probably stop using it.
The same is true of so many other things I don't like.
Litter/pollution, scammers, sexual predators, abortion, animal cruelty, Hillary Clinton, poverty, drug abuse, pandemics, crime, and all manner of awful things.
I may hate them, but that doesn't mean I want government to step in. Look how often that has the opposite effect anyway; making the original problem worse-- or at least not solving it-- while also creating a host of new problems that never would have existed otherwise (anti-gun legislation being a perfect example).
And even if government intervention doesn't make this specific problem worse this particular ...
