We all know the scientific verity that inbreeding weakens the progeny and makes them more susceptible to disease from within and attack from without. This is why it’s against the law for you to marry your sibling. It’s not in anyone’s best interest to allow you to do that. So the biology is settled on the matter. Why do we think that social bonds are not susceptible to the same dynamics? As a social unit, we weaken ourselves when we offer to include only those we already know. This is true whether it’s a downtown dinner club or a Rotary chapter or a planning commission or an informal book group. If we reach out only to include others who resemble who we’ve already got, we don’t get stronger; we get weaker. Self-selection is a mighty force for devolution, not yet measured throughout all levels of society. (This is probably not something I can tackle in 700 words, but I might find a small piece of it that can get the conversation started.)
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