Today, as a small group of extremist fanatics continues to attack the legal foundations of our Constitutional Republic, we serve to relay an excerpt from a recent post by the ever-vigilant Timothy Snyder.
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Author Archives: DP
Our Sacred Honor
To rise up & speak up.
To pledge to each other our sacred honor.
To stand together against tyranny.
To redeem the soul of our nation.
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What A Relief
On this first day of April, amidst the ever-expanding chaos, we pause for a wee bit of happy news, forwarded to us by none other than the crown prince of Happiness Studies, Steven Pinker.
A study referenced today by the BBC appears to confirm, without even the slightest shadow of statistical doubt, that sleeping with an iPhone supports a “greater sensation of lasting happiness” than sleeping with a purring cat.
Indeed, those sleeping with their iPhone rank higher on an inflation-adjusted happiness scale than the good citizens of Finland, who rank #1 in happiness on the Global Happiness Scale.
Even a quick power nap with your iPhone is “likely to induce the required neurochemistry for happiness,” according to the peer-reviewed study.
On that note, back to the chaos.
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Of Politics & Morality
In the midst of an ongoing collapse of ethical, moral and legal constraints on dangerously unhinged totalitarian power, we are indebted to a longtime DP correspondent for reminding us of Vaclav Havel’s Summer Meditations, dating from 1992.
Two excerpts below:
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Amidst the riptides of the present moment, a sentence worth repeating:
Only one battle can surely be lost: the one we give up.
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Against the Voice of the Dictator
Now comes John K. Glenn, senior director at the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy, relayed from a recent substack post by Timothy Snyder, with all links active:
We need to renew the story of why freedom and democracy matter: not in the abstract but here and now and why it matters for the world we hope to build for our children. We cannot hope the facts will become obvious and naturally prevail. As one former policymaker put it recently, “democracy has become the incumbent in an age of anti-incumbency.” We need to show that what could be lost is vital.
People living in democracies are more secure, prosperous, and safe than those in unfree settings – and declines in freedom lead to declines in prosperity and security, and create a more dangerous world.
The evidence is clear:
Democracies are more secure: A large body of research supports the democratic peace axiom that democracies do not fight wars against each other. They are also less prone to civil war compared to autocracies because they are better at absorbing and channeling discontent through legal and institutional means.
Democracies are more prosperous: The link between freedom and well-being is well documented. Countries with greater freedom in 1995 tended to be more prosperous decades later. The reverse holds as well. Venezuela’s decline in freedom since 1999 under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro has resulted in one of the steepest economic collapses in the world, rivaled only by Syria, Belarus, and Russia.
Democracies are safer: As Amartya Sen observed, there are “no famines in democracies,” because free societies are better equipped to make course corrections that dictatorships cannot. The Freedom and Prosperity Indexshows that democracies consistently outperform autocracies on all human development metrics, including health and education. Notably, this holds among low-income countries as well: democracies rank seventeen places higher than autocracies on the Human Development Index, with 25% lower infant mortality rates and children attending two additional years of school on average.
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We must renew the positive story of democracy and its advantages, and we can do so humbly and with respect for cultural differences. We must elevate and support the vital voices of people around the world fighting for their freedoms and their rights. We must challenge authoritarian narratives and create new opportunities to work together in common cause.
We must make the case that when people around the world live in freedom, they can build more secure, more prosperous, and safer societies for themselves — making the world more secure, more prosperous, and safer for all of us.
New Reapers Will Arise
On this day when we, at least ostensibly, celebrate the birthday of George Washington, we bend an ear to the voice of Abraham Lincoln at the age of twenty eight, delivering an address at the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois on January 27 1838.
A timely excerpt below, with emphasis added by DP.
Let us take these words to heart, as “highly dangerous” individuals who believe themselves to be outside the law or even more arrogantly, ABOVE the law, run amok in the city named after George Washington. Now is the time to stand together, united with each other, and frustrate their designs.
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Code Red
Wise and truthful words from Senator Angues King of Maine, words that nonetheless went unheeded on the day:
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Bending Towards Justice
Now comes the voice of John Echohawk, Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund, as relayed from a Letter to Supporters:
This January 20 we recognize Martin Luther King Day. It is a day on which many in the United States remember and honor Dr. King’s work and the long and ongoing fight for civil rights and social justice that he helped foster.
I wanted to take this opportunity to assure you, our supporters and colleagues, that we at the Native American Rights Fund will stay strong and committed in the ongoing fight for justice. In the spirit of Martin Luther King, we will not back down in the face of hate. We will not crumple under the pressure of injustice. The fight for Native rights, for Tribal sovereignty, and for a more just nation continues.
When they threaten to take away our national monuments and sacred places, we will be there to stop them. When they try to disenfranchise Native voters, we will be there to amplify the Native voice. When corporate greed endangers our homelands and waters, we will not back down. We will continue to be at attention as long as it takes to ensure that justice is served. We remember our past to protect our future. We fight for our sacred lands. We fight for our sustained cultures. We fight for our people and our Tribal Nations.
This is a long fight, but we are committed. With your support and the support of people like you, we have been representing Tribal Nations and Native people for more than fifty years. We do not always win, but we never give up because losing is not an option. We are the last line of defense for Native rights. We will not back down in holding governments accountable. We will not back down in protecting Native lands, culture, and people.
Know that together, as we have so many times before, we will make progress.
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Desperado Philosophy 