With so much anger and a flurry of wildly different, often illogical opinions circulating, I’ve often thought it might be useful to allow the same kind of experimentation on a national level that I might conduct in my personal life—a national A/B test.

Against immigration? Let’s halt it and observe the results.
Oppose vaccination? Don’t get vaccinated, and let’s see the outcome.

Of course, it’s rarely that simple. The motives behind some proposed solutions are often misguided, leading to outcomes that are cruel and cause innocent people to suffer. Advocates for these solutions often shift blame when results don’t meet their expectations or deny the outcomes altogether, deflecting accountability to protect their self-image.

In many ways, it feels as if the U.S. is conducting its own voluntary national A/B test. I wish them well and hope women and marginalized groups are able to thrive.

I’m not sure where the widespread vitriol comes from. We face many pressing issues, both locally and nationally, yet I still recognize how fortunate we are.

I’ve already stopped reading many online news sources, even local ones. The commentary has become so toxic and the reporting so driven by clicks that I no longer find value in following the news as closely as I once did; the signal-to-noise ratio is too skewed. A positive outcome of this shift is that I can now step away from the few remaining sources I still follow, focus on my niche interests, and spend more time with books.