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@Troy I think you're probably right about a lot of things coming together to bring about the dwindling participation on this site. i was hesitant myself when you changed the format. I thought it took away some of the intimacy. But all good things must come to an end. For a brief moment in time we all shared something special and unique, then it all dissipated. Before Ferocious Kitty (Deesha) gained fame, she and i met for lunch when she was in Chicago for some event, and we had a somewhat interesting engagement before she ended up sticking me with the $50 tab because her fiancee never showed up to bail her out. Yvette and I also met for lunch when she was in Chicago. She is one of my favorite people and our afternoon was much more fun. And, before she went ape on me, Kola and I briefly corresponded during this period as did Chris Hayden and I as well as me and "A Woman". My brief encounters with all of them broadened me. My participation in that forum back then was a new experience for somebody who was past her prime. It rejuvenated me and was a great diversion for someone who had recently retired and was new to the Internet. 'Will always be grateful to you for providing an outlet that allowed me to spread my wings and be something other than a wife and a mother. And of course i can't overlook the book collaboration with you and Mzuri that never panned out. LOL And where is Mel? I miss her! Lotsa luck with tracking Chris Hayden. I explored all avenues with no results. He's from St. Louis, btw.

Yep! I definitely missed @Cynique when she left; it was like losing a wise friend who was way more intelligent than me. The sad part is I had to wean myself from her posting, and anyone who has experienced loss knows it's a process. And I got into a habit of not visiting as much. I'm so glad you've returned,@Cynique. Thank you, @Troy , for tagging me. AALBC forum requires independent thinking. Haven't you noticed the people who post here don't follow a script? Thinking outside of the program is a challenge, especially when the forum is not an echo chamber. The latter makes it hard for trolls and ditto heads. The good news is the people who sign up want to throw away the "script." Maybe when they attempt to post, it makes them feel uncomfortable. For example, has the OP who wrote the AALBC forum is "boring" ever started a topic? If s/he hasn't - that indicates how intimidating this forum may be to some. Still, I find it encouraging that a lot of people are signing up. Signing up on a literary website means people are ready for a new paradigm. Give them time.

That is an uncharacteristically egocentric viewpoint. What about the other creatures on the Earth, don't they count? Sure but this is not a novel experience. It has happened repeatedly throughout recorded history. Whenever people are able to witness change they see the end of the world. I guess from their perspective the world is indeed "ending." Alas, the world is not ending it is just changing, evolving. We will probably take some giants steps backwards. A few hundred thousand years from now some evolved Bonobos will look back on this time and wonder how such a privative people could have created all this technology -- they will assume it must have been aliens who gave the privative homo sapiens technology.

This was a question posed by @daniellegfny in another conversation. I thought it was important so I decided to post it here.

That is my modus operandus from time to time I will, I was going to name the artist but I wasn't certain if this was a worthwhile post or if there would be any interest. Yes ,the writer is David Foster Wallace. Here is an abbreviated clip from his commencement speech.

These are presently the most important jobs. Probably why governments pay farmers to stop producing, and prevent others to start. Further, social movements are system disintegrator. And lawmakers are working overtime to stop it. See: Florida, Texas and Georgia.

Unless there's no end

@Cynique I feel the most important job in the future is system disintegrator and farmer.

Whatchu smoking. You're like crack for the mind

I think the world as we know it is coming to an end right before our eyes. Computerized technology is enabling artificial intelligence and together they are co-opting society. The covid pandemic provides the perfect matrix for this transformation because it has inhibited and distorted our lifestyles, in addition to making us physically vulnerable. America's political polarization will be the final nail in its coffin. "Retrumpicanism" and the way it has hi-jacked the truth and bastardized reality has created a threatening herd of robotic maggots. Meanwhile, the family feud between progressive Democrats and moderate ones is destroying the party's unity and deflating its power to counteract fascism and maintain democracy. White supremacy is thriving, genocidal black-on-black crime is ongoing, law and order are in shambles, and natural disasters are rampant. Moreover, America is a microcosm of countries all over the globe where internal conflict is never ending. Planet Earth may survive, but its population will have computerized itself out of existence amid an atmosphere of the chaos that will necessitate a return to square one. 🤪

for what its worth , i love Pioneer's posts 🥰

Ofcourse we are approaching the end of the world. As soon as you BEGIN most worlds on this planet....you're approaching the end of it. Just like when a person is born....they approach death. The questions we should be asking are: -WHAT is a "world"? -WHICH world are we talking about? -And exactly WHEN will it end? A world is NOT the planet but a world is a system that controls much of the human activity ON the planet; kind of like how the operating system is on a computer. I believe the "world" that controls most of this planet right now is the Caucasian World that started thousands of years ago. I'm not sure when it will end. I've heard many dates and time frames like 2000, 2012, 2020, ect..., but at my age and from what I've seen.....I can't call it until I gather more facts and evidence to predict how much more time Caucasians have left to rule things.

Nice!

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@Mel Hopkins So true! Yes!