Though I know you have been studying the geography of culture and wonder if you have seen things shift in digital times.

If there are practical reasons for maintaining the broader relationship and connection, eg. Security, that’s what things like treaties do. Kind of gets back to the original unification of the states. But the digital aspect changes things too. A lot to think about!

@thomaszimmer.bsky.social, would be curious to hear your thoughts about the tension between having a sense of belonging— which implies a group with a defined set of parameters— yet being part of a very large and vast population that could fall outside that definition at some point.

I’m also curious about where the sense of belonging comes from. I’ve been thinking a lot about how people define their community in this country and in a digital age, it feels much more complicated than the historical place based definition that was natural in the past.

@colinwoodard.bsky.social, it seems at some point in this narrative there needs to be an alignment of what is a right vs. a privilege, yes? E.g. defining what level, if any, of healthcare is a basic human right. Or for some, they might see it as their right to accumulate wealth. Gets tricky.

Is it all a ploy to make crypto a reserve currency?

I've seen some interesting "Back to the Future"-type scenarios, but this is a sad regression.