I usually open with my name

[andrewclunn]

which I also make a point to use as my handle (anything I say can and will be held against me I know).  Perhaps the best way to introduce myself is by sharing a poem I wrote, to give you all a sense for the workings and works of my mind:

 

Modern Hatred
 

This corruption we've sown has now taken root _____in a void of trust. __________What's growing there? The fight against hatred looks like hate to me. Define acceptable enemies. Prejudices of the past have been defaced, so new ones form to take their place. Outrage gone viral. Social disease. Save us from ourselves, algorithms please. Attacks of anonymous authorship. Suppressed voices decry censorship. And it's rubbing off on me: this modern sort of hatred. Where calls for unity are really calls to blame: attempts to silence and to shame. Dissenting voices we hoped to render mute, _____that we wished we'd crushed. __________Am I one of them? We "the people" united for the cause. But did no one else here think to pause and question if the cause is just? Tribe loyalty our proxy for trust. Black and blue. Who matters? Which lives? Circled wagons on all sides. What we oppose is how we're defined. The price of safety is to toe the line.

And it's rubbing off on me: this modern form of hatred. Now virtue is an act to be signaled and seen. Social capital is currency. Those villains we thought we'd crushed under boots _____into ash and dust. __________Are they really gone? Right and wrong sides of history. Are there consequences we cannot foresee? Does asking that make me the enemy? Empty rhetoric and sophistry. The backlash is the truth no one can hide. Institutions, leaders, and "experts" tried. No one believes the noble lie anymore. Tabula Rasa lies broken on the floor. And it's rubbing off on me: this brand of modern hatred. When justice is only meant for peoples, does the individual become evil? The hope we had for a world of peace and truth _____left to die and rust. __________Are those two at odds? And it's rubbing off on me: this brave new modern hatred. Not everything is beautiful that's true: the darkness within me and you.

[barn]

Hi @andrewclunn

Welcome.

That's a bit of a serious intro. (imo)