No Other Loft

For two world wars, our most important messages were carried by homing pigeons — and we told it as a story of loyalty, medals and all. It’s the wrong story. The pigeon was never loyal; it had no choice. It flew home because home was the only place it could go — built into it on the ground, long before the flight. That is a stronger safety than trust, because trust can be turned and a bound destination cannot. And when it landed you didn’t interview the bird; you opened the capsule — the message was whole or it wasn’t, checkable by anyone, no faith required. We’re handing our valuables to fast new carriers again. Don’t ask whether you can trust them. Ask: could this have gone anywhere but home?