I grew up in an evangelical church, and as soon as I could escape it, I did. I remember my mother talking longingly about the mansion she would have in heaven and, even at a young age, I felt uncomfortable hearing her talk about her life when she would be dead. It was as though she’d given up on anything good happening in this world, and only had the next life to look forward to. If you read the recent rulings from the Supreme Court it’s as if they’ve given up on anything good happening in this world too, but also are trying to hasten us all, in one way or another, to the “next world.” If the baby that you shouldn’t be carrying doesn’t kill you then the guns that they made even easier to get, and easier to carry around, will. Or if neither of those situations do you in, then tying the hands of the EPA to reign in pollution and other hazardous-to-our-health chemicals will. One of my own coping mechanisms may have some similarities – dreaming of living in another, better, country.
Right at the time Roe v. Wade was overturned, I was finishing Jennifer Egan’s recent novel, The Candy House . In the novel, one of the characters is the creator of a social media company who develops a machine that can record your thoughts, including all that you forgot. People could either keep these boxes holding their memories to themselves or upload them to the collective for all to see and experience. No surprise that lots of people shared all. One of the things mentioned about this creation was that it caused an increase in empathy due to people being able to experience what was going on in other people’s minds. It makes me wish we had such an invention now, but I wonder if it actually would change any of the deeply rooted extremists we have dictating our now minority-ruled country of the DSA (Divided States of America). It seems unlikely someone like Alito would change his mind. He reminds me of a boss I had who had such a chip on his shoulder from being o