We aren’t going to go back to the way things were.

We can’t.

Too many businesses have gone belly-up, and some of those won’t return.

We know, now, about R0 and viral spread and how far a cough’s aerosolized droplets spread to un-know that. /1

That’s the crux of the problem when it comes to our polarized society; #conservatives, by definition, hate change.

All those armed (!?!) protestors who want to “free the mall” just want the comforting familiarity of the ways things were. They won’t get that—none of us will. /2

But how do you convince people that fighting change is pointless?

Think about that—time only flows in one direction (forward, obviously) but there are many people who want to stop it and turn it around.

We can’t go back to when there was no #COVID19. That won’t happen. 3/

And when anyone tries to keep time from progressing, which it will inevitably, inexorably do, they get angry and frustrated and take out that anger on whomever they can blame.

The partisan divide we’re in right now is fueled by that anger and frustration; /4

those of us comfortable with change, with newness, don’t understand why anyone wants to go back to the way things were.

That’s why so many people become more conservative as they age. We change less with time, and want the world to do the same.

It won’t. It can’t. /5

This thread won’t satisfy anyone looking for an answer, because there isn’t one, or the conflict between young people and old folks would have ended long ago.

It’s just meant to, maybe, for the few people who will read this, shed some light on what seems like stubbornness. 6/

I know and love quite a few #conservative people. Trump supporters, even. Yes, I still love them.

We have figured out how to just not go there in conversation—to talk about what we have in common, not what divides us.

That’s also helped me help them see some things differently.