Leave the Planet

Forced mobility of this kind is an emerging theme of the 21st century, in contrast to the discretionary mobility that defined the 20th, which began with the advent of the automobile and ended with supersonic air travel—a century characterized by technology expanding the physical scope of life, propelling us faster and faster, juicing us up with kinetic energy until we seemed to overdose on it, a moment perhaps symbolized by the weaponization of airplanes on 9/11.

In a 2019 newsletter, I quoted Alain Bertaud’s observation that “the new proletariat in places like the United States no longer consists of industrial workers, but rather people who are forced to commute for three or more hours a day because they can’t live near their jobs” The same motorized transport that was once pure luxury is now as likely to be a curse.

Luxuries becoming curses is something I’m on the lookout for. Access to information. The immediacy of cellular communication. Working from home. Doordash.

The luxuries in themselves aren’t the problem.