It's Getting Harder, But Hope Is Still Our Choice
An optimist, my favorite definition goes, is someone who falls off a skyscraper and as he passes the thirtieth floor someone hears him say: “So far, so good.” The profane Trump presidency, the accelerating corporate take-over of the US, and the further destruction of government social programs make it hard to be both a realist and an optimist. We can’t just look at the half of the glass that’s full and disregard the empty half. On top of it all, that glass is far from half full. It’s flowing over for the richest 10% or fewer of US citizens. Yet many of the other 90% -- so many of whom are deluded victims of this administration -- have been bamboozled into believing that the right-wing social agenda, including deporting foreign workers, restoring white supremacy, or undoing marriage equality, is the real solution to their problems. But an inability to be optimistic doesn’t mean that pessimism is the only alternative. No matter how we feel about the future, ...