I’m told my writing can be bleak. I suppose that’s true. That’s not my intent, though.

My intent is to talk about politics and the political past plainly so we can take future action. Most often, we the people misunderstand our politics, and take the wrong action. American history shows us taking one step forward, then two steps back.

Bleakness can be hard to take during a pandemic. So here’s a picture of hope.

This is a sapling growing on our property in New Haven. It’s not supposed to exist. My daughter dropped a handful of raw almonds on that spot. One of the almonds germinated and took root. Now it’s struggling to grow into a tree in New England.

Life endures. It can’t help itself. Democracies endure too. They can’t help themselves either. We can’t know what they will become, or what shape they will take in the future, but we can know they will try to become it. There’s reason to hope in that.

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Many thanks! —John Stoehr