Dr. Chuman, like so many others,I share your grief! (BTW, I was one of your grad students at Columbia about 13 years ago.) I have a political blog which has the words “Human Rights” in the title. A Russian entity apparently hacked it in 2018, and I quickly realized, after the news media reported a huge security breach of American government sites and databases (c. 2019), that it was absurd to even think that any government entity was ready to defend my “freedom of speech” when the U.S. government could not even effectively protect itself. The hacking and the American political disaster silenced me (vis. the blog: barrydesaw.com). Dr. Chuman, your remarks did not even mention two HORRIFIC threats to humankind in this century: nuclear weapons/WMD and artificial intelligence. (Artificial intelligence is an inestimable threat to human freedom and well-being over the long term, even if the United States becomes the “dominant” nation in AI, and the threats are too deep and too numerous to even begin discussing.) I am now nearly 63, and I always wanted to be positive and upbeat in my old age, but all I see and mentally apprehend brings me to GRIEF! There were several moments when the destruction of American democracy seemed very real to me. One was when an instrumental minority of Americans decided (November 2016) that the presidency was a trivial thing and any dog could do it. Another was in 2019, when the 45th president’s infamous phone call to the Ukrainian president was FULLY KNOWN to the American people and only 50 percent of Americans polled said they believed the president should be impeached. Still another head shaking observation was that in late 2021, President Biden was reported to have an extremely (& inexplicably) low approval rating among Americans: below 40%. Do those people realize that this is their VERY LAST SHOT at democracy? It is useful to recognize that the German people of 1932 and 1933 were not voting to destroy democracy but simply to Make Germany Great Again. Thank God I am not young!!!
I want to thank you for this essay and your prior one which both express, far better than I ever could, the concerns I share regarding the state of the world and in particular our democracy which is in such a state of peril. It is truly heartbreaking to consider the path we seem to be on which can only lead us toward utter madness. I'm currently reading Adam Schiff's book, Midnight in Washington, which does give me a modicum of hope. Just as I feel when I read your brilliant writing, Mr. Schiff provides hope that there are still deeply moral and thoughtful citizens who are not afraid to speak the truth, upsetting as it is to contemplate. I hope there is some light in our future. Think about what the late Desmond Tutu had to endure throughout his life. I can only imagine the despair he must have felt, and yet he never stopped fighting and amazingly lived long enough to see a free South Africa. My hope is that we can take inspiration from his life to help face head on the troubles you have outlined so well.
I refrained from posting about he crises of our times. Forces that speak to transformational change, for the worse. I refrained because I did not want to go against the outpouring of glad tidings for the new year. Thankfully I held back because you write so poignantly about hope in a time of despair. Hope in a resurgence of moral leadership rather than some blind faith in the future.
I will continue to use my voice, vote, money, and energy to combat the three negative forces that you speak about, the pandemic, climate change, and democratic threats. In the meantime, I will hold dear to affection, empathy, and honesty.
Dr. Chuman, like so many others,I share your grief! (BTW, I was one of your grad students at Columbia about 13 years ago.) I have a political blog which has the words “Human Rights” in the title. A Russian entity apparently hacked it in 2018, and I quickly realized, after the news media reported a huge security breach of American government sites and databases (c. 2019), that it was absurd to even think that any government entity was ready to defend my “freedom of speech” when the U.S. government could not even effectively protect itself. The hacking and the American political disaster silenced me (vis. the blog: barrydesaw.com). Dr. Chuman, your remarks did not even mention two HORRIFIC threats to humankind in this century: nuclear weapons/WMD and artificial intelligence. (Artificial intelligence is an inestimable threat to human freedom and well-being over the long term, even if the United States becomes the “dominant” nation in AI, and the threats are too deep and too numerous to even begin discussing.) I am now nearly 63, and I always wanted to be positive and upbeat in my old age, but all I see and mentally apprehend brings me to GRIEF! There were several moments when the destruction of American democracy seemed very real to me. One was when an instrumental minority of Americans decided (November 2016) that the presidency was a trivial thing and any dog could do it. Another was in 2019, when the 45th president’s infamous phone call to the Ukrainian president was FULLY KNOWN to the American people and only 50 percent of Americans polled said they believed the president should be impeached. Still another head shaking observation was that in late 2021, President Biden was reported to have an extremely (& inexplicably) low approval rating among Americans: below 40%. Do those people realize that this is their VERY LAST SHOT at democracy? It is useful to recognize that the German people of 1932 and 1933 were not voting to destroy democracy but simply to Make Germany Great Again. Thank God I am not young!!!
Please watch Don’t Look Up on Netflix
I want to thank you for this essay and your prior one which both express, far better than I ever could, the concerns I share regarding the state of the world and in particular our democracy which is in such a state of peril. It is truly heartbreaking to consider the path we seem to be on which can only lead us toward utter madness. I'm currently reading Adam Schiff's book, Midnight in Washington, which does give me a modicum of hope. Just as I feel when I read your brilliant writing, Mr. Schiff provides hope that there are still deeply moral and thoughtful citizens who are not afraid to speak the truth, upsetting as it is to contemplate. I hope there is some light in our future. Think about what the late Desmond Tutu had to endure throughout his life. I can only imagine the despair he must have felt, and yet he never stopped fighting and amazingly lived long enough to see a free South Africa. My hope is that we can take inspiration from his life to help face head on the troubles you have outlined so well.
I refrained from posting about he crises of our times. Forces that speak to transformational change, for the worse. I refrained because I did not want to go against the outpouring of glad tidings for the new year. Thankfully I held back because you write so poignantly about hope in a time of despair. Hope in a resurgence of moral leadership rather than some blind faith in the future.
I will continue to use my voice, vote, money, and energy to combat the three negative forces that you speak about, the pandemic, climate change, and democratic threats. In the meantime, I will hold dear to affection, empathy, and honesty.