We are an infamously mobile nation. That is one of the cornerstones of the American dream and a root cause of our equally infamous stores of optimism. . . . The traits that foreigners both detest and adore in us—our informality, friendliness, instability, and restlessness—owe much to the idea of movement, . . .Will we never tire of the hunt for something better? . . . We can't all be what Virgin Atlantic, in a silky paean to its best customers, dubs the "fast-moving, culture-shaping jetrosexual, who dwells in multiple worlds and time zones" ever-hungry for the new and at home in the placeless metropolis of the airport. But that's no matter, because the possibility is there, and the yearning is deep. . . .It's not so much moving for a job or a love or an ideal that stirs us anymore. It's moving for movement's sake. "Mobility climbs to the rank of the uppermost among coveted values," observes Bauman. The bootless chase continues. What's around the corner?
-Maggie Jackson, Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age
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