To the editor:
 
We live in interesting, yet strange times. We are a divided society, divided by race, religion, geography, education, professions values, and by the way we think and reason. In other words, we live in different worlds. Yet, we are all out of Africa and immigrants as our ancestors knew well. Every one of us traces our lineage back to a small population living on the southeast coast of Africa several thousand years ago. From this perspective, we are truly one family of mankind and less tribal than we might think. Yet, this perspective is conveniently ignored. Instead, from another perspective and the most visible today, we are hopelessly divided and tribal and this is not likely to change anytime soon. Today, increasing polarization has taken us into a new political civil war!
 
So, some questions before us are, how can we live in an increasingly divided society without tearing it apart? Can we find a way to tolerate people with different cultures, values, viewpoints ….? Can we resist passing laws that force people who do not accept them to live by them? If not, then what? Should we split the sheets and form two or more countries? Should we just try to muddle through? Should we take to the streets and fight? Answers are in short supply, yet questions will not go away and neither will a divided people.
 
None of us know what the next few years will bring, but one thing we know is that all societies collapse; it is not an “if” but a “when.” As H.G. Wells noted, “society is in a race between education and catastrophe.” 
 
David Gould

Fauntleroy Area