A few years back, I remember a comedian did a bit on the Conan O’brien show about technology. He noted that people with all this incredible new technology still can’t seem to be satisfied. He talked about how you see people standing there punching buttons on their smartphones, and when there’s a moment’s delay, they shake their head and huff, all put off.

He said, “Give it a second! It’s going to space! Can you give it a minute to get back from space?”

He talked about being on a flight in which they unveiled wireless internet service for passengers. And so he was sitting there with his laptop, watching YouTube videos, and he said it was awesome. Then the wireless service quit working. The guy sitting next to him uttered an expletive, indicating how unfair he thought the whole Internet outage was. And the comedian marveled at “how quickly he thought the world owes him something he knew existed only 10 seconds ago.”

He said, “Everything’s amazing, and nobody’s happy.”

Since that Conan appearance, we’re increasingly aware that new technology can be scary. I’m thinking particularly about AI. But I get what the comedian was saying.

In fact, the whole thing hits a little too close to home. It’s that time of year again, when middle-aged adolescents get that far-away twinkle in their eyes—the one that says either, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” or “The new iPhone’s out!”

That’s right, it’s iPhone time again!

They’re amazing little pocket computers, aren’t they? Powerful. Sleek. Unbelievable. The whole thing is mind-boggling to me. Now, they fit more computing power into a little hunk of glass, metal, and silicon than full-sized computers from just a few years ago.

I typically like technology and how quickly it advances. But there’s always this fear that if you buy the new thing, before you get home there will be a newer thing—and you’ll miss out. So you stay perpetually unsatisfied, yearning for what you don’t have. FOMO. Fear of missing out.

The new foldable iPhone Duo is going to be nice, but then I won’t have an upgrade for whatever comes next September.

I guess maybe that’s what it is—fear of missing out. No matter how good you have it, it’s hard not to believe something better’s happening somewhere else and you’re missing out. It’s difficult to make peace if you’re always thinking that your life would be so much better—if only...

Of course, it’s not just advancing technology that makes us think we’re getting the short end of the stick. What if we got a President in office whose first bill to Congress stated that, in view of the global nature of our ever-shrinking world, traditional criteria for being a U.S. citizen would henceforth be disregarded, but in a way opposite to the one we’re experiencing right now.

Which is to say, what if the next president said that anyone born in the world from this point forward would be considered a US citizen and would be entitled to all the benefits and rights that come with it.

Come on in; there’s plenty of room for everyone!

Family having a hard time of it in Haiti? Apply to the U.S. government for financial assistance.

Can’t find anyone in your African village to treat your grandmother’s lumbago? Don’t worry, you’re entitled to Medicaid here in the good old US of A.

Nobody protecting you from the bombs in Gaza? No problem, we’ll send you a Social Security check. We take care of our own, all 8.3 billion of them.

How does that sort of immigration policy make some people feel?

What do you mean it doesn’t matter where you’re born? Of course it matters!

Where were all these people when my family was fighting WW II? These interlopers have never lost a loved one in a war for this country. They didn’t march on Washington for Civil Rights. They don’t have the same history with this country as we do, as people born here. We’re already having problems finding jobs for everybody.