How can we, in a society increasingly divided, rediscover mutual understanding, exchange, and community? Bob Blume's answer in this polemical essay is clear and personal: We must rediscover the fundamental cultural skills of reading and writing. Alongside the latest educational studies, this text presents personal experiences, including those from everyday school life, which make it clear: Against the superficiality of the online world, we must rediscover reading and writing, regardless of age. The task is to establish spaces for this: empathy through reading novels, insight through journaling, and shared reading and discussion spaces, including digital ones. This polemical essay clarifies the changes necessary for social cohesion and a reflective community.