Take The Long Hard Road To Self-Respect

Thoughts for the Horrified

Paul Krugman, November 11, 2016 (NY Times)

“…[T]hose left, center and even right who saw Donald Trump as the worst man ever to run for president and assumed that a strong majority of our fellow citizens would agree…[must now] remember that elections determine who gets the power, not who offers the truth…[But] if you’re tempted to concede that the alt-right’s vision of the world might have some truth to it, don’t. Lies are lies…I particularly worry about climate change. We were at a crucial point, having just reached a global agreement on emissions and having a clear policy path toward moving America to a much greater reliance on renewable energy. Now it will probably fall apart, and the damage may well be irreversible...One natural response would be quietism, turning one’s back on politics. It’s definitely tempting to conclude that the world is going to hell, but that there’s nothing you can do about it, so why not just make your own garden grow?

click to enlarge

…But that is, in the end, no way for citizens of a democracy — which we still are, one hopes — to live. I’m not saying that we should all volunteer to die on the barricades; I don’t think it’s going to come to that, although I wish I was sure. But I don’t see how you can hang on to your own self-respect unless you’re willing to stand up for the truth and fundamental American values…Will that stand eventually succeed? No guarantees…Maybe the historic channels of reform — speech and writing that changes minds, political activism that eventually changes who has power — are no longer effective…[But accepting it] would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The road back to what America should be is going to be longer and harder than any of us expected, and we might not make it. But we have to try.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet