Because I do not expect common people to understand phenomenon they have never really had to think about, I am aware that they are »learning. It’s a process. They don’t start out informed or aware, and may, indeed, never arrive in the proximity of understanding.

All of the people are in different developmental phases, situations and states… so, too, the institutions. But the institutions are not people — they have nothing like minds or feelings. They are methods. Formalizations of what would otherwise be relationships.

I try to keep in mind that everyone is in the world, and their own developmental path… uniquely. For this reason, I do not expect them to understand… or respond intelligently… especially to situations as confusing and compromised as those we now face.

On a sign in my city, there is a simple phrase:

I protect you.

You protect me.

There’s something fundamental there that I can easily appreciate.