I wonder if there’s a timeline where Hillary won, and I am drinking a blueberry smoothie right now, not worrying if it might kill me, or knowing there are “pastors” who believe if “the welfare state collapses” the church should tell elderly, childless women to go ahead and starve
I just had a conversation with my sister this morning about something similar to your planet earthian concept and our despair over the current state of the world. You have echoed my thoughts much more articulately
This hit the spot Ally. Sometimes I think am I the only one tracking this insanity? Who CARES? Which is why I wrote I Really Care. Do You? last week. There are more Earthians than we can guess. Thank you for being one.
Ally, I love your work. I feel my own rage and pain and disbelief expressed so beautifully in your writing. This is all too f$&@king much and it helps to feel less alone when I am reading your essays.
For all this horror it seems to me that we (amazingly and horrifyingly) don’t seem to have yet arrived at a tipping point where we collectively say: “We’ve seen enough! No more Lamar Romans! No more following unaccountable men!” There are many “No mores” in all of us.
My concern is that the Democratic Party is still filled with more people in love with power than those willing to go to the mat for justice. And further, I’m afraid that centrist Dems will play the usual games of calibrating their message, to play it as safely as possible.
I believe only a massive loss by the GOP will fundamentally change our political landscape. And if that happens, what then? I will enjoy watching the craven sycophants of the GOP get a day of reckoning and comeuppance, but if that’s all that dominates the news over the next two years, we’re still in trouble.
I hope the Democratic Party can lean into the positive DSA messaging, learn from what folks like Mamdani are doing well and roll out a real plan to change the lives of ordinary and marginalized people for the better. I’m unfortunately not optimistic about this.
That said, it will still be a significant thing if Dems win back control of Congress. At a minimum there will be a stop to more Project 2025 horrors.
If our politicians fail us (as is likely), nothing prevents us from loving our neighbors, including those with Trump signs on their lawns. Love is and always will be more powerful than fear.
I think saying “not all men” in a knee jerk or even perfunctory way whenever we or someone else talks about atrocity committed against women by men is akin to saying “all lives matter” when someone talks about why Black Lives Matter is such an enduring motto and critically important movement.
A friend made a protest sign that says “all lives can’t matter until Black Lives Matter.” Which is a pretty good way of putting the all-lives-matter folks in their place imo.
We need something catchy like that for “Not All Men.”
Had a stomach ache for a few days this week probably because I ate some gluten which I mostly avoid. The first thing that came to mind was what if it was something else. I eat frozen blueberries every day but my grocery store has not had them lately. I looked up where the bad ones are supposed to be coming from. Why are we having to do this? It is all so exhausting. I read about the horses in Project 2025 yesterday because someone posted about it. On a lighter note my neighbors asked us to check on their dog yesterday afternoon so my husband went over to let him out and feed him. We had a bad thunderstorm pop up and he said isn't Leroy (Brown) scared of thunder. So he went over and sat with him. They evidently had their indoor camera on and my husband heard a voice say "he is sitting on the couch with Leroy". He responded Hello, Hello? He was still there when they got home and their 3 year old was excited to see my husband. We are sort of her adopted grandparents because hers live far away. The little happy moments keep me sane.
It is all exhausting and relentless and so disappointing when others don’t seem to care….gives me hope every time I read your writing that someone else is seeing this and feeling all the things and putting it into words…which I then forward to others hoping that when stated this eloquently and beautifully it will move the needle towards care a bit more…thank you as always for this.
I just had a conversation with my sister this morning about something similar to your planet earthian concept and our despair over the current state of the world. You have echoed my thoughts much more articulately
That's awful about the wild horses, among the most beautiful creatures on earth.
This hit the spot Ally. Sometimes I think am I the only one tracking this insanity? Who CARES? Which is why I wrote I Really Care. Do You? last week. There are more Earthians than we can guess. Thank you for being one.
Ally, I love your work. I feel my own rage and pain and disbelief expressed so beautifully in your writing. This is all too f$&@king much and it helps to feel less alone when I am reading your essays.
For all this horror it seems to me that we (amazingly and horrifyingly) don’t seem to have yet arrived at a tipping point where we collectively say: “We’ve seen enough! No more Lamar Romans! No more following unaccountable men!” There are many “No mores” in all of us.
My concern is that the Democratic Party is still filled with more people in love with power than those willing to go to the mat for justice. And further, I’m afraid that centrist Dems will play the usual games of calibrating their message, to play it as safely as possible.
I believe only a massive loss by the GOP will fundamentally change our political landscape. And if that happens, what then? I will enjoy watching the craven sycophants of the GOP get a day of reckoning and comeuppance, but if that’s all that dominates the news over the next two years, we’re still in trouble.
I hope the Democratic Party can lean into the positive DSA messaging, learn from what folks like Mamdani are doing well and roll out a real plan to change the lives of ordinary and marginalized people for the better. I’m unfortunately not optimistic about this.
That said, it will still be a significant thing if Dems win back control of Congress. At a minimum there will be a stop to more Project 2025 horrors.
If our politicians fail us (as is likely), nothing prevents us from loving our neighbors, including those with Trump signs on their lawns. Love is and always will be more powerful than fear.
Yes to all of this.
Except…
I think saying “not all men” in a knee jerk or even perfunctory way whenever we or someone else talks about atrocity committed against women by men is akin to saying “all lives matter” when someone talks about why Black Lives Matter is such an enduring motto and critically important movement.
A friend made a protest sign that says “all lives can’t matter until Black Lives Matter.” Which is a pretty good way of putting the all-lives-matter folks in their place imo.
We need something catchy like that for “Not All Men.”
Had a stomach ache for a few days this week probably because I ate some gluten which I mostly avoid. The first thing that came to mind was what if it was something else. I eat frozen blueberries every day but my grocery store has not had them lately. I looked up where the bad ones are supposed to be coming from. Why are we having to do this? It is all so exhausting. I read about the horses in Project 2025 yesterday because someone posted about it. On a lighter note my neighbors asked us to check on their dog yesterday afternoon so my husband went over to let him out and feed him. We had a bad thunderstorm pop up and he said isn't Leroy (Brown) scared of thunder. So he went over and sat with him. They evidently had their indoor camera on and my husband heard a voice say "he is sitting on the couch with Leroy". He responded Hello, Hello? He was still there when they got home and their 3 year old was excited to see my husband. We are sort of her adopted grandparents because hers live far away. The little happy moments keep me sane.
It is all exhausting and relentless and so disappointing when others don’t seem to care….gives me hope every time I read your writing that someone else is seeing this and feeling all the things and putting it into words…which I then forward to others hoping that when stated this eloquently and beautifully it will move the needle towards care a bit more…thank you as always for this.