Readers reflect different states of mind in response to a column by Michelle Goldberg about political despair.
To the Editor:
Re “The Problem of Political Despair,” by Michelle Goldberg (column, Nov. 23):
I see hopelessness from my friends and colleagues across the nation.
I taught high school history and government for 25 years, practiced law, ran for local office, and wrote speeches for both Republican and Democratic candidates up to the state level. Politics and government were my lifelong passions.
But this year I was advised by medical providers that my saturation in the daily decline of our civic life was making me ill. I turned out to be representative of my friends, who withdrew from reading, discussing, listening to and commenting upon the state of our disunion.
We beg those within the government to offer us crumbs of optimism, but it doesn’t heal the intuition that things will only devolve into some dystopian nightmare not yet fictionalized on film. Ms. Goldberg’s concern for her children is not misplaced.
Lynne D. Feldman
Upper Saddle River, N.J.
To the Editor:
Despair is a state of mind, not reality. One of the most powerful weapons of those who seek to muscle their way into power or to destroy an enemy is to get inside the heads of their opponents. Hence, propaganda is one of the great weapons of would-be autocrats.
When a president backs away from the battle over a Supreme Court justice nomination, as Barack Obama did, when we allow Americans to arm themselves with military-style weapons, when we allow gerrymandering to take away control from a majority and hand it to a minority, those are the moments when actions were needed but we shrank away. Add to that the propaganda meant to embolden the radical and immobilize the enemy and here we are in America today.
We cannot change what has gone before. We can only recognize today’s threats and take action against them. Pass the voting rights legislation. Pass legislation meant to support middle-class Americans in their desires to live good lives. Aggressively prosecute those who openly threaten our way of life. Turn up the messaging from the White House and around the country to drown out the Tucker Carlsons of our world.
Despair is a state of mind, not reality. Reality lives in the actions we take, and these times call for strong actions to be taken.
Bruce Neuman
Water Mill, N.Y.
To the Editor:
As a left-leaning mother of two daughters who has protested mightily for women’s rights and gun safety during my six decades on this threatened earth, I hoped to breathe a sigh of relief after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. I am instead far beyond “the bad feeling” Michelle Goldberg addresses in her column.
The blatantly unconstitutional Texas abortion law that the Supreme Court refused to halt, the disturbing Rittenhouse verdict that encourages armed vigilantes to shoot to kill, a Republican Party that is OK with the posting of an image showing the throat-slashing of a female member of Congress — how do we wake up every day and not feel as if bringing children into this world was a mistake?
Is this the country we envisioned for our families? No, no, a thousand times no!
It is time for reasonable people from all parties to stop being complacent and start fighting for a fair and just country, as if our very lives depend on it — because they do! I am dusting off my protest signs and phoning my representatives and getting noisy! I will join with other like-minded souls to make my voice heard before it’s too late.
I will actively work to vote out of office anyone, regardless of party, who doesn’t support women’s and abortion rights, common-sense gun safety and protecting our planet. The time to stand up for our children and prevent a return to Donald Trump in 2024 is now.
Jill Ley
Greenbrae, Calif.
To the Editor:
Michelle Goldberg calls on our political leadership to help us find a renewed faith in our democratic institutions, but I wonder if any such attempt would be inherently disingenuous. Even before the more radical instances of gerrymandering and whatever else we might associate with the most recent incarnation of the G.O.P., it seems as if our democracy has been lost for some time.
Outside of a certain Tocquevillian nostalgia, it proves difficult to find examples of ordinary Americans exercising anything like self-government, and even that applied only to white men. Historically, the norm has been varying shades of oligarchy, occasionally punctuated by moments in which elite interests seemed to coincide with popular ones.
Rather than wondering if our democracy is at risk because of despair, perhaps we should start asking whether it’s being helped at all by our continued optimism, and if instead we shouldn’t start to consider whether we’ve ever been democratic citizens at all.
Caleb Miller
Marblehead, Mass.
The writer is a visiting assistant professor of politics at Washington and Lee University.
To the Editor:
We may very well be on the verge of a long, very long, period of minority rule in America, and therefore an end to democracy as we know it.
A combination of voter suppression laws and gerrymandering will send even more radical representatives to Congress, and they will be in the majority. Look for the Republicans to continue to provide tax breaks for the rich, deny climate change and set their sights on gutting Social Security. Acceptance, even encouragement, of vigilantes openly carrying weapons on our streets will increase. Economic and racial equality efforts will be stopped in their tracks.
When the Constitutional Convention had ended, Benjamin Franklin was asked what the delegates had given us. “A republic — if you can keep it” was his answer. One political party has decided that is no longer of interest to them.
Robert Carroll
Quincy, Mass.
To the Editor:
Well said, Michelle. My sentiments exactly.
One thing you can say for Republicans, though, is they know how to win even if they don’t know how to (or care to) govern.
I despair.
Linda Slezak
Hampton Bays, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Michelle Goldberg is spot on regarding me.
I am 71, a retired C.P.A. and attorney, well educated, well traveled, and politically active my entire life. At my age and experience I feel no loss in passion or energy. And I despair — in spite of all my hopes and abilities, I have lost faith in my country. And the only solution I can come to is to withdraw into the secure world I have built within my home and family.
I deplore the antidemocratic and policy-less furor of the minority rule on the right. Rage and culture-cultism have gamed and overtaken a constitutional system that I see now was never built to withstand such an attack. And we are left not at all sure how to fix things.
And my despair is enhanced by knowing the right understands that our greatest tool is the vote, and seeks and succeeds at every turn to undermine it.
My time remaining is short, the bulk of a good life is now done and set, and I can put the world aside and watch it pass. But my children and grandchildren cannot.
Lyndon Dodds
San Antonio
To the Editor:
Thank you, Michelle Goldberg. You channeled my mind and heart when you wrote this.
My first question is: “What can I do?” I believe if something needs to be better, be part of making it better.
However, I ache for a new set of leaders who have the skills to connect with people. We need leaders with the political savvy to develop and navigate a strategy to shift our country’s attention to fundamental truths and call us to action.
The Republicans have played the long game for 30 years. I am amazed at how they have stolen our democracy without firing a shot. It is time for a group of leaders to define a path out of this and bring the grass roots of the country along. This is a time for decisive, focused countermeasures.
I am ready to do more than my fair share. Who are the leaders who can do this?
Susan Pleasant
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
