I appreciate your always thoughtful words. Glad to see you back.
When we can expect the unimaginable every day, nothing and everything will be a surprise.
It's so disheartening to know the utter chaos and cruelty that will beset us in the coming years. To assuage the distress, you and your readers know the value of turning to a historical perspective.
And the opinion piece by David Brooks in the NY Times today helps. He does a good job of describing the populist movement in America in the 1800s, when people felt the country and they themselves couldn't expand and get rich and powerful enough, fast enough. And they did, until it all fell apart. Then government structures (TR's progressivism) emerged to hold everything together, and for a century, did so.
If you'd like me to share a link to it on your page here, you can let me know.
I would love the link Mary. When you love to learn about history as we do in our book club, you learn that the most unbelievable of things happen all the time throughout history. There are never guarantees a republican form of government like ours will even survive. Often it is good fortune and the right leadership at the right time. We look backwards and just figure it worked out.
When we look back on the events in nearly any country you quickly realize that sometimes the wrong path is chosen instead of the right path. At the time no one really knows the path to choose. It is useful to imagine. The link you mention (I enjoy David Brook's past writing) sounds interesting. While I am unsure whether writing on Substack will become a habit I am working on something a bit similar to what you describe. I am the link would inspire me.
Thank you!
EDIT >> I have found myself thinking a bit about a historic figure Grover Cleveland. Until the return of President Trump, he was the only President to serve non-consecutively. He was a young man who was elected Mayor of Buffalo NY (where I grew up) and soon after the Governor of NY. The country was a wreck after the Civil War and amid Reconstruction. Cleveland was a free trader and anti-tariff. History repeats itself since tariffs and now playing a large role in our lives. We were also amidst the greatest concentration of wealth in the history of our nation with people we called robber-barons like Rockefeller and JP Morgan. They very nearly redefined the country but we were saved by the Progressive Movement of Teddy Roosevelt. The point is Cleveland was the bookends to Benjamin Harrison. Harrison won the presidency in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. All of these things are familiar today I think. The point is this has happened before and we muddled through. There are no guarantees. When Harrison was in office he raised tariffs to historic levels. This is not jingoism and fear mongering, just historic facts of history. The first actions of Mussolini, Hitler and Imperial Japan prior to WW2 were historic tariffs. I think the point is we celebrate our arrival at the current time. When the Soviet Union collapsed there was a very brief period of Democracy. The larger force was the emergence of a word Americans like to use nowadays, the Oligarchs. They parted out the Soviet Union industry and attained enormous wealth. They readily turned to a strongman in Vladimir Putin. Here we sit 35 years later. Sometimes countries choose well and sometimes they do not. Choosing well is a bit like the road less traveled.
Sorry, I took a few days off from engaging with Substack and other social media, so I'm late to commenting on this post and taking the poll, but how very cool it is to see you return, Mark, if only this once (though I hope it won't be the last!).
As for your poll, I've been expecting the worst from this president, so nothing he and his sycophantic supporters have done surprises me. It might have in 2016, but not now. Seeing Elon Musk give a Nazi salute was troubling in the extreme, but so was pardoning the Jan. 6 stormtroopers and calling them patriots. What continues to shock me is how so many are treating this president and his executive orders upending of our democracy as the new normal. How did we get here?
Thanks Ruth. I tried hard to step back and leave room for people to share. I am a history lover and there have been a lot of varied chapters in our country before so I just wanted to observe. Not much of it surprised me necessarily.
Thanks Jeannine. I don't plan at this point for this to be regular just yet. We will see though. I would have to write something more creative and personally satisfying than this :( -- make sure you vote. I'm hoping to find out if all of this was expected or not.
I voted! I forgot how much I missed your surveys. As horrible and crazy as it is, I expected the pardons, but a lot of the rest kind of came out of left field.
For me, while I did not vote, I gravitated to declaring two national emergencies in the very same day. There's something so peculiar and outrageous about that I didn't quite know how to react. Sort of like a tidal wave in the middle of a volcanic eruption.
Thanks Irene. As you know I grew up in a border city. Some of the nicest people you meet are Canadians. We grew up quite close to Lake Ontario. I hope that renaming it to Lake New York is not a priority :( -- I hope you voted -- the results are anonymous. It interests me to know what might have been not readily imagined.
It's a litmus test to see what motivates us all. What can get us up off the couch and inspire a us to action? Yesterday did that for you Mark. Welcome back!
HI Mark, as someone outside the US, I'm surprised by little from US politics, not the pardons, not the executive orders etc, but I was certainly surprised by Elon's salute.
I sensed that people ( generally speaking) were stunned by his action of pardoning 1500+ Jan. 6 Capital Stormtrooper criminals. Why should they be? He said he would do that on the campaign trail and he did it. There is very little in place to control him now with the Supreme Court ruling that gives him almost dictator power. He has his own little army now with the release of these criminals. America voters wanted him. Now they will get every bit of what they voted for.
Welcome back! Unfortunately, there is nothing he has done or will do that will surprise me. The cruelty is the point related to anything with him, his administration or MAGA.
It was an odd day. As I saw the reports coming out I immediately flashed back to the 9/11 report. I'm not sure I will necessarily write consistently but I cancelled sending this in the morning. When I saw that a mountain and a body of water are going to get renamed, I just figured why not publish :)
Hi Mark,
I appreciate your always thoughtful words. Glad to see you back.
When we can expect the unimaginable every day, nothing and everything will be a surprise.
It's so disheartening to know the utter chaos and cruelty that will beset us in the coming years. To assuage the distress, you and your readers know the value of turning to a historical perspective.
And the opinion piece by David Brooks in the NY Times today helps. He does a good job of describing the populist movement in America in the 1800s, when people felt the country and they themselves couldn't expand and get rich and powerful enough, fast enough. And they did, until it all fell apart. Then government structures (TR's progressivism) emerged to hold everything together, and for a century, did so.
If you'd like me to share a link to it on your page here, you can let me know.
I would love the link Mary. When you love to learn about history as we do in our book club, you learn that the most unbelievable of things happen all the time throughout history. There are never guarantees a republican form of government like ours will even survive. Often it is good fortune and the right leadership at the right time. We look backwards and just figure it worked out.
When we look back on the events in nearly any country you quickly realize that sometimes the wrong path is chosen instead of the right path. At the time no one really knows the path to choose. It is useful to imagine. The link you mention (I enjoy David Brook's past writing) sounds interesting. While I am unsure whether writing on Substack will become a habit I am working on something a bit similar to what you describe. I am the link would inspire me.
Thank you!
EDIT >> I have found myself thinking a bit about a historic figure Grover Cleveland. Until the return of President Trump, he was the only President to serve non-consecutively. He was a young man who was elected Mayor of Buffalo NY (where I grew up) and soon after the Governor of NY. The country was a wreck after the Civil War and amid Reconstruction. Cleveland was a free trader and anti-tariff. History repeats itself since tariffs and now playing a large role in our lives. We were also amidst the greatest concentration of wealth in the history of our nation with people we called robber-barons like Rockefeller and JP Morgan. They very nearly redefined the country but we were saved by the Progressive Movement of Teddy Roosevelt. The point is Cleveland was the bookends to Benjamin Harrison. Harrison won the presidency in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. All of these things are familiar today I think. The point is this has happened before and we muddled through. There are no guarantees. When Harrison was in office he raised tariffs to historic levels. This is not jingoism and fear mongering, just historic facts of history. The first actions of Mussolini, Hitler and Imperial Japan prior to WW2 were historic tariffs. I think the point is we celebrate our arrival at the current time. When the Soviet Union collapsed there was a very brief period of Democracy. The larger force was the emergence of a word Americans like to use nowadays, the Oligarchs. They parted out the Soviet Union industry and attained enormous wealth. They readily turned to a strongman in Vladimir Putin. Here we sit 35 years later. Sometimes countries choose well and sometimes they do not. Choosing well is a bit like the road less traveled.
I know that a writing project sometimes takes many iterations to get it to what we envision. Good for you for keeping the spirit alive.
Here's the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/opinion/trump-mckinley-populism.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk4.LLhz.dK0gANBeujvZ&smid=url-share
I did the one post on impulse. Not sure if it will get me writing again. Certainly not about just one topic as weird as this one.
Thank you
Sorry, I took a few days off from engaging with Substack and other social media, so I'm late to commenting on this post and taking the poll, but how very cool it is to see you return, Mark, if only this once (though I hope it won't be the last!).
As for your poll, I've been expecting the worst from this president, so nothing he and his sycophantic supporters have done surprises me. It might have in 2016, but not now. Seeing Elon Musk give a Nazi salute was troubling in the extreme, but so was pardoning the Jan. 6 stormtroopers and calling them patriots. What continues to shock me is how so many are treating this president and his executive orders upending of our democracy as the new normal. How did we get here?
Thanks Ruth. I tried hard to step back and leave room for people to share. I am a history lover and there have been a lot of varied chapters in our country before so I just wanted to observe. Not much of it surprised me necessarily.
Glad you are back! At least this once!
Thanks Anne -- see you at the Cafe
I'm do glad to see you back, despite the circumstances. I hope you'll be able to post more. The government is getting weirder...
Thanks Jeannine. I don't plan at this point for this to be regular just yet. We will see though. I would have to write something more creative and personally satisfying than this :( -- make sure you vote. I'm hoping to find out if all of this was expected or not.
I voted! I forgot how much I missed your surveys. As horrible and crazy as it is, I expected the pardons, but a lot of the rest kind of came out of left field.
For me, while I did not vote, I gravitated to declaring two national emergencies in the very same day. There's something so peculiar and outrageous about that I didn't quite know how to react. Sort of like a tidal wave in the middle of a volcanic eruption.
As a Canadian, I am horrified for our country to be threatened by our closest ally. I can't imagine it represents people of the USA
Thanks Irene. As you know I grew up in a border city. Some of the nicest people you meet are Canadians. We grew up quite close to Lake Ontario. I hope that renaming it to Lake New York is not a priority :( -- I hope you voted -- the results are anonymous. It interests me to know what might have been not readily imagined.
It's a litmus test to see what motivates us all. What can get us up off the couch and inspire a us to action? Yesterday did that for you Mark. Welcome back!
Paul -- I don't know what my pH is. I think this will be a rarity or perhaps a one time post.
HI Mark, as someone outside the US, I'm surprised by little from US politics, not the pardons, not the executive orders etc, but I was certainly surprised by Elon's salute.
A failure of imagination ...
I sensed that people ( generally speaking) were stunned by his action of pardoning 1500+ Jan. 6 Capital Stormtrooper criminals. Why should they be? He said he would do that on the campaign trail and he did it. There is very little in place to control him now with the Supreme Court ruling that gives him almost dictator power. He has his own little army now with the release of these criminals. America voters wanted him. Now they will get every bit of what they voted for.
It was quite an eventful day one. 1460 to go.
Welcome back! Unfortunately, there is nothing he has done or will do that will surprise me. The cruelty is the point related to anything with him, his administration or MAGA.
It was an odd day. As I saw the reports coming out I immediately flashed back to the 9/11 report. I'm not sure I will necessarily write consistently but I cancelled sending this in the morning. When I saw that a mountain and a body of water are going to get renamed, I just figured why not publish :)