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A minute of hope
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A minute of hope

Notes on a train ride to Washington, D.C.

Anand Giridharadas
Nov 3, 2022
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A minute of hope
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The small-hearted faction who would rather break the country than share it has ultimately lost every battle in our history. It often seems indomitable in the short run. It has a poor record in the long run.

Those who want a bigger we and a more perfect union will prevail, again.

They opposed abolition. They opposed women voting. Opposed civil rights. Opposed school integration. Opposed opening immigration to all races. Opposed a safety net. Opposed caring for seniors. Opposed gay rights. They keep losing. We will defeat this revolt against the future.

This reactionary right is not a movement of the future. It is a revolt against it.

They are not protagonists in this drama. They are backlash. They are barnacles on progress that has been made and will continue.

We need to buck up, ditch the despair, and win.

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11 Comments
Barbara D
Nov 3, 2022

Loved the Coach's "Buck up!" message. Each of us alone in the orb called our brain can get very down. We have to constantly get together to shove those depressing thoughts down the chute to the incinerator. I have one request, however. Let's ditch forever any phrase that uses "senior" to represent older citizens. *Senior Citizen* in all its form was a phrase coined by those in power - probably aided by the advertising industry - to make older citizens feel special and yet put them in their place. Some older people have fallen for it because of coupons for an early bird dinner.

For myself, I'd rather be called an old broad than a Senior Citizen.

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Joanna Denis
Nov 3, 2022

Actually, I find this to be one of your more heartening messages, and I thank you for it. We have to have hope. I don’t know what it will take for people to vote. I’m overseas right now and the process wasn’t easy. Ballots kept arriving at our address in the states rather than at our daughter’s home, here. We finally got our ballots by mail, voted and sent them back the same day. I hope our votes will be counted.

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