I'm a conservative living in a very liberal streetcar suburb. I have substantial disagreements with my neighbors politically (one is a trans activist... And I'm a Latin mass attending Catholic). You don't need huge shared cultural experiences. Just an agreement to not antagonize each other and a willingness to partake in shared experiences like block parties, or drinks.
Why is everyone looking for some deep connection with everyone else? It's okay to just be good acquaintances and neighbors. Not everyone is going to be the person to whom you spill your inner most thoughts.
And for when I want to be around like minded people, I just... Walk to my church. There are more church options in cities anyway.. there's just more people. Again, as a Latin mass attending Catholic, I have two solid options within walking distance in my ultra liberal west coast city. Whereas my own more conservative suburb growing up had... None. You'd have to drive hours for that.
At the end of the day a lot of this comes down to people being unwilling to even be around people unlike them.
You're a better man than I am. Yes, I'm unwilling to be around those who deny the suffering of my people, the history of my country, millennia of bloody conquests, all in the name of some new found, new age concepts or equity or equality or democracy. It depresses me to be around the people who deny my suffering. I don't want to do neighborhood wine and cheese weather chat when I know he fundamentally disagrees with my right to exist or his book teaches him to wipe out my people. It is difficult for me to go to my church, synagogue, or temple, learn about burnt babies, and then go a block party and talk about Taylor Swift, cuz I sure as hell cant talk about anything else.
So my family immigrated to this country from a previous British colony. There are two options in life (1) dwelling on all the past mistakes, injustices, and grievances or (2) living your life (which only goes on for a limited amount of time) here on earth. I choose (2). People have way too much time to dwell on things that don't matter. This is 2024 in the United States. No one is wiping out anyone.
> At the end of the day a lot of this comes down to people being unwilling to even be around people unlike them.
When did I ever say this? People are talking about loneliness. I don't know about you but the "We only hang at neighborhood barbecues" makes me feel more lonely not less.
I want to make friends. Real friends, not fluffy workplace style acquaintances where we only talk about superficial stuff over a beer once in a while
I even straight up said. I don't hate my neighbors. We get along fine. They are just also very different than me and it contributes to my feelings of loneliness. I don't think I'm the only one in the world that feels like that
Why is everyone looking for some deep connection with everyone else? It's okay to just be good acquaintances and neighbors. Not everyone is going to be the person to whom you spill your inner most thoughts.
And for when I want to be around like minded people, I just... Walk to my church. There are more church options in cities anyway.. there's just more people. Again, as a Latin mass attending Catholic, I have two solid options within walking distance in my ultra liberal west coast city. Whereas my own more conservative suburb growing up had... None. You'd have to drive hours for that.
At the end of the day a lot of this comes down to people being unwilling to even be around people unlike them.