It occurs to me that literally and figuratively virtual communities serve much the same role, socially, that things like the Lion’s Club, and Rotary, and the Masons, and Fraternal Order of Eagle’s, and bowling and softball leagues did for the previous several generations.
But virtual is a step back. There is no physical presence. You can’t smell people. You can’t touch them. And such communities can be easily “curated” and watched, controlled and manipulated. It’s not the same thing at all, and it would not be hard to argue that part of the longer term purpose of this induced panic over a not-very-dangerous disease is to push our young, especially, away from each other, and towards on-line and inferior ersatz communities–Gesellschafts, if I might reference de Tonnies–which the State can watch, and which work in tandem to push them farther from their own individual consciences, individual perceptions, and individual moral choices.
I will add, Rush is not that deep, except for a rock band. There, they stand nearly alone.
I myself certainly was and continue to be a misfit. When I look back on my life, though, on my death bed, it will have been spent trying to be honest, to take risks, to face my shadow, and to grow to the best of my ability. What other people do with their lives is their business, but that is my choice.