Saturday January 14, 2023; 8:06 AM EST
- All around us, we have movies about superheroes and the like, but Rebecca Solnit notes that in this time of crisis, "The rescuers we need are mostly not individuals, they are collectives – movements, coalitions, campaigns, civil society." I guessed the other day that most of us turn to the resources of the web, the most breath-taking tool of our age, not for collectivity but for our solo work and play. Perhaps the most iconic image of citizenship in our time will turn out to be the isolated individual, seated, in headphones, controller in hand, facing a fancy screen and playing a fantasy shooting game. That's not a good enough story to tell ourselves about the good life or the life of a citizen contributing to society. But lacking a better one that we can share, the solo dude practicing his shooter game might be the story we'll be remembered for.#