The primary problem pressing society in less than 500 words.

The primary problem pressing society today is loneliness. Despite what the politicians tell you, the people physically around us are not part of our communities. For most of us, physical communities are an anachronism; our communities are virtual and non-geographic. When we visit our suburban strip malls to conduct our affairs, we aren’t doing business with our neighbor Larry, who happens to own the local savings and loan—we do business with a nameless low-level branch manager of a socially estranged corporation, who unbeknown to us lives down our street.

Our affairs are twisted. The community to which he owes loyalty is the corporation he represents, and his civic duty is to squeeze me for every penny he can. It is only through rigorous training and corporate motivational videos that he has mastered the skill of holding that shit-eating “customer satisfaction is my passion” grin, while he proceeds to shake me down. He wouldn’t treat me this way if he knew me; i.e., I was his Facebook friend. To me, he is just another faceless suit, who is better recognized by the brightly colored corporate logo on his corporate badge. He is “them”, our distant CEO overlords ruling from their corporate throne rooms in the clouds above financial districts in New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo, and Dubai. This guy is just a henchman. As we conduct our business, my eyes are filled with enmity, and not totally without the intention belie my own shit-eating grin. I comply with his requests with the same begrudging contempt as a person getting mugged forks over his wallet, and he knows it. I wouldn’t regard him this way if I was doing business with Larry, my neighbor and proprietor of the local savings and loan. To me, he’s not even an old Mr. Potter.

The community is poisoned. We don't know our neighbors—They’re all faceless, and we are faceless too. We are all faceless representatives of the multitude of corporations shaking each other down daily. Yet we have to live next to each other. No wonder we hide at night in our living rooms, sedating ourselves with seroquil, booze, and glowing rectangles blasting dizzying colors and sounds.

There are patterns in the noise. Subtle reassurances to the unconscious that our community is all here, on the other size of this glowing portal. Our communities are “virtual”, and are bound by shared attachment to celebrities, sitcoms, and reality TV personalities. The system is so smart and efficient. Even for the ones smart enough to turn off the television, LCD monitors can apply higher levels of stimulation to maintain the illusion of being a part of something. Facebook, Reddit, Townhall.com, Twitter, Huffpo, Youtube comments—tapping 140 character missives to one another through invisible, impermeable walls, we are given just enough social sensation to maintain the illusion.