Everybody in the World?

I've heard a number of definitions for society, but I don't believe I've ever heard that one. How can everybody in the world be in the same society when they don't all speak the same language and are always fighting and squabbling among themselves? Well, I suppose if you're going to be a collectivist, you might as well be a global collectivist.

I got to thinking after I signed off yesterday that maybe my "they" and your "society" are one in the same thing, but now I'm not so sure. For me, "they" are a bunch of unidentified people who seem to be in control of everything, and I think that's what my mother used to believe society was. I know she was always telling me what society required of me, but I don't remember her ever saying that society was going to do anything for me. You, however, seem to have a different take on it. You seem to be saying that society is everybody, from the leaders to the followers and everybody in between. So whose fault is it that some people are rich and some people are poor if your society includes both the rich and the poor? And what is the source of your guilt in this matter? You, who are neither poor nor exceptionally rich, yet still consider yourself to be in the same society with both of them?

Well, I don't consider myself to be part of any society. To me, society means "other people", which is also what I mean when I say "they". As far as I'm concerned, they cause all the problems in the world, so they should be responsible for fixing them. I've got enough to do solving my own problems, some of which are my fault and some of which are their fault. If I ever get caught up with all of that, I might consider helping other people with some of their problems. I have tried that before in my life, and it usually doesn't work because they don't listen to me but, being an incurable optimist, I might try it again someday if I ever get the time.

I don't have caller ID, but I have read more than once that those Cardholder Services guys have the ability to cause your caller ID to display a false phone number, which is one reason the feds have a hard time tracking them down. Be that as it may, do you only answer calls from people that you know? Does your machine display the name of the person calling as well as his number?

We used to get a lot more telemarketer calls before we put our number on the National Phone Registry. I have to admit that I didn't have a lot of faith in that thing, but it has cut our spam calls down considerably. Too bad they exempted politicians and charities, but it was better than nothing. Of course, if guy is a crook to start with, he probably doesn't hesitate to break one more law. It's like they told us in the army, "A lock won't stop a thief, but it will keep an honest man honest."