Where did everyone go? The question must have crossed your mind as the content river turned into a stream and then nearly dried up. There were two pots of honey and one hammer. Podcasts were too entertaining and too easy to crank out. Hot take reaction posts and twitter threads created immediate dopamine rewards for roughly the same effort. The hammer was Charlottesville.

The energy that pushed through in 2016 started with analysis of the situation and was armed with talking points that cut our sociopolitical reality at the joints. We needed Schelling points to realize how many of us were out there. What we need now are policies and practical solutions that address the even more intransigent than expected system around us and provide ways of carving out space for our thede. What we do not need is point and sputter, doomposting and endless hot takes. Save that for Twitter.

There is always a need for esoteric discussions and inspirational exhortations. There is a need for analysis of our changing situation as it echoes other historical moments. One sees phrases all over the web about where we are as if it’s a plug and play for labeling: Years of Lead, Troubles, fin de siecle, etc. Countless stories worthy of the front page are never discussed.

There is also a need to provide framework for actionable items. All communities seem paralyzed and often voice a feeling that everything is out of their hands. This is not so. We are men who have agency not weak pieces of driftwood tossed on the currents. While we are not men of the Bronze Age, we can still feel the pulse of its memory running in our veins.

There are also greater challenges that we face in the digital panopticon. New problems are forming. New trends are present and old behaviors have morphed. We need to hear these stories. Help us share them.