In Defense of the Same 4/4

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I embrace the same. The same is stable. The same is a comfort, a companion, a firm and steady hand in ours that tells us not to fear. I do not tilt at windmills. I do not chase the Yelenas of the world, thinking our love will be special and unique, that we two would have feelings no others have had before. We would be Romans, scrabbling in the bathhouse dust for a revelation that never comes.

You say &quot;every screen program is the same, nowadays! We need variety!&quot; Why? I watch the screen and I know that every other human will see the same thing, experience the same stability. We are together in that. The sameness is our communion.

You say &quot;we must explore and expand! It makes us human!&quot;. I say that your expansion destroys us, tearing apart the network of humanity that we have built.

You say &quot;we must go faster!&quot;. No. I say we must go slower. We must bind ourselves more tightly to the earth. We must re-trench against the false illusion that reckless speed is freedom, that cancer is life.

I beg you, my fellow humans. When you step into the threshold of your ships, minds afire with false hope, look behind you. See the bars of your cage closing around you. Step backwards, I beg you. Come back into the sun. Embrace your fellow man instead of tearing away from him.

There are no horizons. There is no discovery. Embrace what you already know to be true, and be free: everything is the same.

(Scrawled in the margins:)

I know it's repellent, but I wanted you to read this so you could better understand what we're up against. They've been passing out fliers like this at the spaceport for weeks now. You need to understand how these people think…there's going to come a day when it's us against them. For people like this, there's only one way to deal with people like us.

Stay strong. I promise you: I'll get the money, we'll book passage, and be away from Hammon 'Effing Peal and everyone like him.