Recommended Reading: Finding Hope in the Despair
This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack: Jim Wallis, Parker Molloy, J.P. Hill, Jill Filipovic, Jared Yates Sexton, Melissa Ryan, Justin Glawe, and Noelle Cook
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This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack:
writes that “speaking the truth to power, as our friend Bishop Mariann Budde just did, is a central way to hold onto hope. The press asked Trump what he thought of the sermon, and he made clear that he didn’t like it. But he had to listen… Her example will be an important part of our courage going forward–to keep returning to the commitments of our faith so the rest of the nation must keep listening to us, despite how bad the nation’s politics get.”
writes that we need to “remember this moment. Remember that asking for mercy toward scared children and immigrants was enough to trigger a full-scale campaign of intimidation from the highest levels of government and media. Remember that a sitting congressman suggested deporting an American citizen for the crime of asking the president to be kind.”
writes that “you don’t need to save the world, you can’t save the world, but together we can move in that direction. It takes thousands and millions of us doing what we can, taking the steps in front of us, reaching out to connect with others and to expand the actions we can collectively take and the power we can collectively wield. That is what this moment asks of us. And right now, today, this is our time to answer the call.”
writes that “if things are truly hopeless, then we no longer hope. If there is nothing worth saving, there is nothing to work for. Here is why we are lucky even in this awful moment: There is so much worth saving. There is so much worth fighting for. Those things become visible when threatened. When things feel easy, it is easy to become complacent. Only friction makes sparks.”
writes that “this was a blitz. An opening salvo meant to shock and awe. If you’re like me, you felt it in your gut. It left you tired and sad and angry. There are so many people hurting, so many people scared. The people of color I know, the women, the immigrants, the gay and trans people, they’re directly in the crosshairs of this monstrosity. I owe it to them and you owe it to them to dust ourselves off, see this charade for what it was, and get back to the hard and necessary work.”
writes that Curtis Yarvin is an “influential figure on the MAGA right, backed by Peter Thiel. Yarvin has many devotees especially in tech, the most famous being Vice President J.D. Vance. Yarvin is a writer who believes that democracy has been bad for civilization and that a modern monarchy is what’s needed for civilization to advance again. If you’re wondering why Yarvin is so popular in Silicon Valley, well, that’s because he believes that this modern monarchy should come from Big Tech.”
writes that “executive orders continue to come flooding from the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Donald Trump signed a handful more on Thursday afternoon, his signature black Sharpie pen squeaking as he went. It’s a lot to process — not just for members of the press like myself but for the public, who must then (hopefully) consume and understand scores of news reports on these many executive actions.”
writes that “far from the harmless ‘granny’ she claims to be, Hemphill’s history tells a much darker story. She has a long record of far-right activism: harassing Indigenous protesters, provoking confrontations with Black Lives Matter demonstrators, and playing a key role in Ammon Bundy’s extremist group, People’s Rights… Her so-called ‘conversion’ wasn’t a moral awakening—it was a rebranding.”