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Virgil Haden-Pawlowski's avatar

Thanks for the great read Aladdin, and the links inspiring a "wait, what? Wow" reaction. The other side of how Trumpism has been able to find a safe home in American politics is just this now naked fact that American democracy is so broken. How can they crawl back from a broken anti-social media and broken and captured political parties and legally bribed legislative committees after several generations of the population are now indoctrinated by misinformation and conspiracy theories?

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Aladdin Diakun's avatar

Virgil -- thanks so much for reading and for the thoughtful feedback! That "wait, what? Wow" reaction tells me I'm on the right track -- that's what I'm going for!

I agree that it's hard to see how American democracy bounces back from this. It's been a long, slow slide toward this precipice we're now dangling over. Certainly these challenges will continue to fester even if we pull back from the most imminent authoritarian edge.

And yet, I think there's perhaps some cause for cautious hope in remembering that things have been bad before -- and worse -- but people's organizing and leadership have wrested progress from the hungry grip of those who would destroy it.

And in choosing informed, cautious hope, we can create a space to imagine avenues for action and better outcomes to pursue. The great blessing is that whatever world awaits on the far side of these crises remains ours to create.

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Kenedy's avatar

I so appreciate your way of balancing a call-to-action, reality check (facts), and encouragement of self-care. This is a rare and refreshing combination. Thanks you! (Also, please don’t make me wait so long for the next email!)

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Aladdin Diakun's avatar

Kenedy -- thank you so much for reading and for your generous feedback! It's honestly so encouraging -- it gives me fuel to keep going and to aim to be better each time. I'm really glad to hear that I'm striking the right balance -- I'm certainly trying! I'm already excited to get working on the next one, especially knowing you're eagerly awaiting its arrival! Stay tuned :)

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