BRIEF: Keep on rockin’ in the free world
Big thought, small step, deep breath — for April 14, 2025
BIG THOUGHT
Empathy and humility
According to sometime theologian Elon Musk and leaders in some conservative denominations, empathy is a trap. The Trump regime, as it continues to condemn immigrants to an offshore gulag, punish the poor, and dismantle the systems that keep us healthy and safe, seems to have embraced that theory wholeheartedly, if not quite biblically.
One has only to look at this past weekend’s significant spiritual observances for some lessons to the contrary, lessons that apply, whatever your spiritual inclinations.
Passover, which started Saturday, celebrates the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the journey of the Jewish people to the Promised Land. The questions of identity are complex and daunting, perhaps more so these days than ever. At its core, however, the story is one of liberation from slavery, and that story has been an inspiration for freedom movements around the world, most notably here in America, where it’s been central in the Black American experience of resistance (more on that below). And at the heart of the seder (the Passover service), the story unfolds through the asking and answering of questions meant to illuminate the rebellious, the uneducated, and those too young to understand — all ritual acts of empathy.
And on Palm Sunday, Christians retell the story of Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem for Passover, not to overthrow the Romans, but to change minds (and deliver salvation), arriving to take up his final role not as a conqueror leading an army, but alone on a donkey — an object lesson in leading with humility.
Democracy has its own rituals, and on Saturday, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought their Fighting Oligarchy speaking tour to Los Angeles. Along with 1960s icons Joan Baez and Neil Young, they addressed a crowd of 36,000 with a message of resistance to billionaire rule, some inspiration for the crowd, and an appeal to empathy:
“We’re going to make our revolution with joy,” Sanders said. “We’re going to sing and dance our way to victory against hatred and divisiveness.”
Sanders dismissed chants of his name before heading off into the desert to make a surprise appearance at another mass gathering: Coachella. Sanders didn’t expect the audience to be there for him — instead, he was there for them:
“It’s not ‘Bernie.’ It is you.”
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Standing up and fighting the broligarchy means rejecting their rejection of empathy and humility, and getting back to what’s human (and humane) about America at its best. And that’s not up to Sanders, or Ocasio-Cortez, or any other elected official. Their job is to represent the people — to inspire them, to organize them, and to act on their behalf. But it’s ultimately up to the people to push back against the regime, and that only happens when everyone comes together to make their voices heard.
SMALL STEP
Lexington and Concord
On that note, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first campaigns of the American Revolution, the 50501 Movement is following up on the huge April 5 Hands Off! rallies with another planned nationwide day of action on April 19. That’s this coming Saturday, so start making a plan now to attend an event or host. Check at fiftyfifty.one for more information and a growing list of events. (The 50501 events calendar has been down with technical issues over the weekend, but their team is on the case, so check back for more information over the coming days.)
DEEP BREATH
Let my people go
Given the season, there’s no better performance to turn to than the polymathic actor, singer, and activist Paul Robeson’s reading of “Go Down Moses.” The African American spiritual not only tells the Exodus story of the flight from slavery, but began as an anthem of the contrabands, the formerly enslaved people who fled the South during the Civil War and then fought for the Union against the Confederacy.
A programming note: More Live conversations — after a spring break
We’re on the road this week, so we’ll be taking a break from our regularly scheduled Live conversations. We’ll be back next week with some very special guests. On Tuesday, April 22, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll talk with the economist Dani Rodrik. And on Wednesday, April 23, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be speaking with the writer, lawyer, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. You won’t want to miss either one, so mark your calendars now!
To join and watch, download the Substack app (click on the button below) and turn on notifications — you’ll get an alert that we’re live, and you can watch from your iOS or Android mobile device. And if you haven’t already, subscribe to The Ink to access full videos of past conversations and to join the chat during our live events.
Yes empathy and compassion scare both Musk and POTUS. They are both so addicted to power and greed they have no idea how to practice leadership based on mutual trust and cooperation.
Reading On Freedom with my Democrats Abroad book club. We just finished reading Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie. They are each talking about different concepts of freedom. Cowie talks about the freedom of those who are above others as they see themselves having the freedom to do what they want, and that includes having ownership or dominion over others. What a lot of White men want to return the US to being. Cowie makes a case for enlightened populism.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/is-populism-the-way-to-go?r=f0qfn
Snyder is talking about 5 forms of freedom, sovereignty, unpredictability, mobility, factuality, solidarity and ties them to different stages of our lives. I don't think one would connect these words with freedom if one did not read this book. Still, he is making a compelling case that "freedom to," is freedom, not "freedom from" and that freedom has goodness of action in it.
We have just started the book and will be discussing the first 2 chapters this week. The book also tells us that having good government allows children to grow up free, and that is important. We have to understand what good government is in order to have it. Much of what the US has in the way of government I have not felt was good. Too much markets, not enough humanity. Maybe this is a time to switch that as Trump destroys the markets, out of their ashes can rise the people.