Historic moment
What we do matters greatly, as much as it did in the World Wars, as much as it did in the Civil Rights era, and as much as it ever has or will in human history.
Last evening, at a dinner for some of our friends with April birthdays, I sat next to a dear friend who is a Viet Nam combat veteran. Occasionally he shares a story about the ways he and his buddies dealt with the insanity of war, but very rarely, if ever, about the horror of that insanity itself. Fifty some years later, he is deeply generous, kind, and offers a sense of humor that is, to say the least, irreverent. (I won’t share his jokes here, because without the twinkle in his eye on delivery, they just wouldn’t be the same.)
We chatted about the state of our country. He follows the political news closely; when the 45th president was elected in 2016, this gentleman whose family roots go back more than a century in this valley, put a hand-painted “RESIST” sign on his old windmill facing the highway through town. It stayed there until that same president was rejected in the 2020 election. A brave act in a very Republican county.
At one point in our conversation, I said “I don’t want us to be the generation that loses democracy.” He agreed, and reminded me that in our country’s history, we’ve been here before. The Civil War, of course, and then again 75-80 years ago in the era of the World Wars. The cycles of progress in human rights and the ensuing backlash. We took comfort, a little, in the notion that these crises bruised but didn’t kill democracy, that the backlash can be vicious but progress continues.
And we reaffirmed that none of this is pre-ordained. Looking backwards, we can fool ourselves into believing that “right” or “good” triumphs because it is right or good. It may seem inevitable in hindsight, but it is always tentative in the present moment.
Democracy has survived mortal threats because people decided to defend it, and acted. Human rights have progressed (not far enough) because people work tirelessly and at great personal risk to move them forward.
As my friend said: there is no doubt we are in a historic moment. What we do, where we invest our resources of time and treasure, and who we support, matters greatly, as much as it did in the World Wars, as much as it did in the Civil Rights era, and as much as it ever has or will in human history.
Never doubt that your work and contributions matter. There’s a combat veteran in this little valley who will remind you, any time.
Be safe and well and thank you for your company on this journey.