After almost 6 years of traveling, we sailed into Woods Hole on Cape Cod. We continued living aboard for the next five years and I wrote about that, adding ‘and Beyond’ to the title of the blog. Then shortly before Mark’s death in 2016, we sold our beloved Windbird and my travel logs became land logs. At this point, I had written a daily account for each and every day for 11 years. I fully intended to end the blog at that point, but when I wrote that news in a log, I got many responses saying that I really needed to keep posting. At the same time, I realized that I couldn’t stop writing. Summarizing each day had become a permanent part of my life and I will probably continue writing until I can no longer. These postings reflect the ordinary, and sometimes the extraordinary, days in my life and I would like to invite you to join me on my journey.
2025 Life Logs, Day 76: Rainy St, Patrick’s Day
2025 Life Logs, Day 76: Rainy St, Patrick’s Day
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Weather: Rain, Rain, and More Rain; High Temp 54, Low 39 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
What does one do on a rainy, rainy St. Patrick’s Day? You don’t plant peas, which is the Cape Cod tradition. I went to see a movie with a friend. We went to see Anora because it won so many Oscars. I had heard terrible reviews from anyone I know who has seen the movie, but I wanted to see it for myself. I must say I have never heard the ‘f’ word so many times in a movie and the explicit sex scenes had nothing to with love. They were scenes of sex workers at work which comes across as raw porn. Definitely not a family movie. But the feisty sex worker who refuses, at least at first, to be bullied by Russian mafia types, made her a hero. When she did cave, she lost all. So, standing up for herself, even in the face of physical violence, gave Anora, aka Ani in the movie, real appeal deserving of Best Actress.
Tonight, I went to hear a presentation on two articles that will be voted on in April’s Town Meeting. Hilda Maingay and Earle Barnhart from The Green Institute here in Falmouth, presented the details behind the two articles they are sponsoring to do local research on using Urine Diversion to help solve our nitrogen pollution problem. Most every home in this country must use some method of getting rid of all the water that flushes through your home. You are either tied into a sewer system or a septic system. The problem with both is that after the wastewater goes through either of these systems, the treated water still has most of the nitrogen from urine in it. Most homes in Falmouth are still using traditional septic tanks. Hilda and Earle are trying to educate and convince the masses that urine diversion is cheaper and actually gets rid of most of the nitrogen, thus more environmentally friendly. After tonight’s presentation, I certainly had a much clearer understanding of Innovative/Alternate (I/A) septic systems and Urine Diversion.
The woman who introduced Hilda and Earle tonight ended the evening with a quote I had never heard before. It comes from tennis great, Arthur Ashe, and applies in so many situations.
“Start WHERE you are.
Use WHAT you have.
Do WHAT you can.”
2025 Life Logs, Day 75: Sunny, Warm Sunday
2025 Life Logs, Day 75: Sunny, Warm Sunday
Date: Sunday, March 16, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Winds S 10 AM, 22 PM; High Temp 61, Low 52 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
On this last Sunday of winter 2025, we had a wonderfully warm day. No hat, no gloves, no coat needed. And somehow. I just melted into the day and now it’s time to go to bed. The south wind that brought us warm weather today is bringing rain during the night, and it is forecast to stay with us all day tomorrow and tomorrow night, ending early Tuesday.
I did accomplish one thing today, but only with Jed’s help. A computer desk that my son Justin left with us when he moved out west in 2007. Mark and I kept it in storage while we sailed around the world and at some point after we returned, Heather and Jed used the desk for awhile. When they no longer needed it, it was disassembled and stored in their basement. Fast forward to this February. When I started PT for my neck pain, the therapist recommended adjusting the height of my computer. I tried a make-shift desk using a wooden card table. It was better than what I had been using, but it was still causing problems. Then I remembered that steel and glass computer desk and asked Heather and Jed if they still had it. They did, and this morning Jed got it out of their basement for me. They had used it at one point but then took it apart to store it when it was no longer needed. I took the parts home, and later in the afternoon Jed came over to put it back together for me. We were missing some special screws with large flat heads and one of the rubber pads needed for the glass desktop. I got into my box of screws and bolts and found a plastic bag with some screws that looked just like the ones we needed. When Jed opened the bag, he couldn’t believe it. It was the original screws and that missing plastic pad that have been hidden away for years. I tend to keep things forever, which can sometimes cause a space issue, but today it was a lifesaver.
2025 Life Logs, Day 74: Science Fair and 2025 All Cape Jazz Festival
2025 Life Logs, Day 74: Science Fair and 2025 All Cape Jazz Festival
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025
Weather: Overcast, Foggy; High Temp 46, Low 41 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The annual Falmouth Public Schools Science Fair was held this morning in the high school gymnasium. Ollie was the only Goldpebble with an entry this year. I enjoyed having him explain his experiment to me, as well as talking with other budding scientists about their projects.
This afternoon I went with Heather and Jed to Hyannis to the Sturgis East Charter Public School who hosted the 2025 All Cape Jazz Festival. Jonah was the Goldpebble in this event. He plays trombone and this afternoon he played in the Falmouth High School jazz band and then in the All Cape Jazz Big Band. There were exhibition jazz bands from Nauset, Sandwich, Barnstable, Sturgis, and Falmouth. I might be a bit biased, but I thought Falmouth’s jazz band was the best, by far.
2025 Life Logs, Day 73: Taking Care of Business and Trivia Night
2025 Life Logs, Day 73: Taking Care of Business and Trivia Night
Date: Friday, March 14, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warmer; High Temp 51, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
No meetings, no political events, just a day of sitting at my computer taking care of business. Then tonight, I went to the high school for Trivia Night, a fundraiser for their spring play. I really don’t like Trivia because I am terrible at it, but a friend pleaded with me to fill an empty seat, and I just couldn’t say no. Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated, but I think I embarrassed my oldest grandson, Sam, by being there. I had no idea he would be there, but when I saw him, I went over to say hello. He said he saw my car when he arrived and wondered what in the world I was doing there! I loved that in the first three rounds, my group had more points than his. But in the end, they surpassed us. And it was great that the winning group was a table of Falmouth High School teachers, not students. Their team’s name was “Over Educated, and Under Rated.” Good, healthy, fun competition.
I chose not to go to Hyannis for the Veteran’s protest at the Hyannis rotary today. I really needed a day off. But I am so proud that Cape Cod’s Indivisible groups showed up and made the national news tonight on the Rachel Maddow Show. Rachel believes that the local pushback is working, so she highlights protests from all around the country that are happening every day. Today was our turn. Pushback, pushback, pushback.
And tonight, on Rachel’s show the April 5 HANDS OFF! national protest by Indivisible, 50501, and many other organizations was announced by Ezra Levin from Indivisible. Local groups from all over the country have been pushing for one centralized protest in addition to the protests springing up all over the country. So, plan your trip to DC now for the April 5 event. Until this February, I don’t think I have ever participated in a protest in my life. Now I have been to four in four weeks, and I certainly plan to go to DC. Hope to see you there.
I’ll end with a quote I borrowed from a Robert Reich post:
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” ? Theodore Roosevelt
2025 Life Logs, Day 72: Encore Monthly Meeting to Full Moon
2025 Life Logs, Day 72: Encore Monthly Meeting to Full Moon
Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Cold; High Temp 41, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Today started with an Encore monthly meeting and is ending with the anticipation of the full moon in the middle of the night at 2:55 am. There will also be a lunar eclipse during the night, beginning just before midnight. Since it is already 11:30 pm, I’ll get to check out the very beginning. But I am choosing not to get up during the night to see the full eclipse.
What else happened today? Kevin and Claire tried to call me on my birthday last week so Kevin could sing Happy Birthday to me, but the timing was not working for me. It took until today for us to find a common time to talk. They really want to get the boat repair work completed and get the boat into the water to cruise the Sea of Cortez next winter. They have friends on two other boats that they would love to cruise with. So, here’s hoping they can get all the work done in time. After that I tuned into the every Thursday afternoon at 3 pm Zoom call with Indivisible (national). The main topic today is the decision the Democrats have to make by tomorrow on how to vote on the budget. Go along and keep the government open or go against and shut down the government. Almost a no-win situation.
Then this evening it was off the a Falmouth Democratic Town Committee (FDTC) meeting. I’ve never attended one before, but I decided it was time to check it out. And when I got home from that, I made one more trip out for today. I delivered by old Canon camera to Heather and Jed’s so they can use it to try and get photos of the eclipse tonight. That gave me a chance to catch up with them and found that they had attended the installation of art pieces for a display at WHOI done by the Ninjas (Ollie’s middle school art honor group). Jed sent me a photo of Ollie sitting beneath the piece he worked on. Once again, so proud.
2025 Life Logs, Day 71: Falmouth’s All Bands Night and More
2025 Life Logs, Day 71: Falmouth’s All Bands Night and More
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Weather: Sunny, but Cooler; High Temp 46, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The Falmouth Schools’ All Bands Night has become one of my favorite nights of the year. I think all of the mamas, the papas, the grandmas, the grandpas, and the brothers and sisters in attendance love hearing Falmouth’s 5th grade band, 6th grade band, middle school band, and high school band, all gathered in the high school gymnasium playing music. The evening starts with the high school band playing the Star-Bangled Banner. Then the youngest musicians play one piece, and the next and the next, on up to the high school band. Just hearing the progression of expertise is always “music to my ears.” They then start over, with each band playing another piece. There is a short pause while the jazz bands at each level come forward. They each play two songs, always upbeat and a delight to hear. The evening then ends with all of the musicians playing America the Beautiful written by Falmouth’s own Katherine Lee Bates. How they pull this off with only one practice run just before the concert begins is amazing to me. It is always a tearjerker but tonight, with the situation in our country, it was even more so. America is beautiful and for just a short period of time tonight, everyone in that gymnasium set politics aside and became one. Thank you, Falmouth School District, for the opportunity you offer your students and the gift you give each of us in attendance on this one special night each year.
I started my day with an all-morning Encore Board meeting, followed by a Shamrock Luncheon at Liam MacGuire’s hosted by Newcomers. Next was an Exploring Public Policy meeting with Town Moderator and state representative speaking with us about local government and how to get involved.
In between each of these activities, I would hurry home to let Shadow out. And then the day ended with the All Bands Night. Busy, but wonderful day.
2025 Life Logs, Day 70: Book Club, Protest, Indivisible Meeting, and Claude Malhuret
2025 Life Logs, Day 70: Book Club, Protest, Indivisible Meeting, and Claude Malhuret
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 53, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
It was another crazy, busy day. I hosted my book group this morning, spent time getting ready for my Encore Board meeting tomorrow, attended another protest, my fourth in the past few weeks, and ended the day at an Upper Cape Indivisible meeting.
On the national scene, Trump and company were busy continuing to dismantle our federal government today. Yesterday I saw a post on Facebook with the full text of a speech made last week by French senator, Claude Malhuret. It very clearly lays out all that is wrong with what the Trump regime is doing. This morning, a friend sent me a video of the speech. Then when I opened by daily post from Robert Reich, that speech was there in its entirety once again. It is an important read. So, if you have not yet read it, here it is again.
Trump is a traitor, and Europe is now alone: A view from France
Robert Reich, March 11, 2025
From time to time, I bring you views from outside the United States on what we are enduring here. The following is an English translation of a speech made last week by by Claude Malhuret, a French senator who is largely unknown outside France. Malhuret’s words are chillingly relevant to what is now happening in the United States.
Europe is at a critical turning point in its history. The American shield is slipping, Ukraine risks being abandoned, Russia strengthened.
Washington has become the court of Nero, an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, and a jester high on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service.
This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s message is that there is no point in being his ally since he will not defend you, he will impose higher tariffs on you than on his enemies and will threaten to seize your territories while supporting the dictatorships that invade you.
The ‘king of the deal’ is showing what the art of the deal is on his stomach. He thinks he will intimidate China by lying down in front of Putin, but Xi Jinping, seeing such a submissiveness, is probably accelerating preparations for the invasion of Taiwan.
Never in history has a US President capitulated to the enemy. Never has any one of them supported an aggressor against an ally, trampled on the US Constitution, issued so many illegal executive orders, dismissed judges who could have prevented him from doing so, dismissed the military senior staff in one fell swoop, weakened all checks and balances, and taken control of social media.
This is not an illiberal drift, it is the beginning of the confiscation of democracy. Let us remember that it took only one month, three weeks and two days to bring down the Weimar Republic and its Constitution.
I have faith in the strength of American democracy, and the country is already protesting. But in one month, Trump has done more harm to America than in four years of his last presidency. We were at war with a dictator, now we are fighting a dictator backed by a traitor.
Eight days ago, at the very moment that Trump was rubbing Macron’s back in the White House, the United States voted at the UN with Russia and North Korea against the Europeans demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Two days later, in the Oval Office, the military service shirker was giving war hero Zelensky lessons in morality and strategy before dismissing him like a groom, ordering him to bend or resign.
Tonight, he took another step into infamy by stopping the delivery of weapons that had been promised. What to do in the face of this betrayal? The answer is simple: confront it.
And first of all, let’s not be mistaken. The defeat of Ukraine would be the defeat of Europe. The Baltic States, Georgia, Moldova are already on the list. Putin’s goal is to return to Yalta, where half the continent was ceded to Stalin.
The countries of the South are waiting for the outcome of the conflict to decide whether they should continue to respect Europe or whether they are now free to trample on it.
What Putin wants is the end of the order put in place by the United States and its allies 80 years ago, with as its first principle the prohibition of acquiring territory by force.
This idea is at the core of the United Nations, where today Americans vote in favor of the aggressor and against the attacked, because the Trumpian vision coincides with that of Putin: a return to spheres of influence, the great powers dictating the fate of small countries.
“Give me Greenland, Panama, and Canada. You can get Ukraine, the Baltics, and Eastern Europe. He can get Taiwan and the China Sea.”
In the dinners of the oligarchs of the Gulf of Mar-a-Lago, they call this “diplomatic realism.”
So, we are now standing alone. But the idea that Putin cannot be confronted is false. Contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, Russia is in bad shape. In three years, the so-called second largest army in the world has managed to grab only crumbs from a country three times less populated.
Interest rates at 25 percent, the collapse of foreign exchange and gold reserves, the demographic collapse, all show that [Russia] is on the brink of the abyss. The American helping hand to Putin is the biggest strategic mistake ever made in a war.
The shock is violent, but it has a virtue. Europeans are coming out of denial. They understood in one day in Munich that the survival of Ukraine and the future of Europe are in their hands and that they have three imperatives.
Accelerate military aid to Ukraine to compensate for the American abandonment, so that it holds out, and of course to impose its presence and that of Europe in any negotiation.
This will be costly. It will be necessary to end the taboo of using frozen Russian assets [and] circumvent Moscow’s accomplices within Europe itself by a coalition of only the willing countries, which includes, of course, the United Kingdom.
Second, demand that any agreement be accompanied by the return of kidnapped children, prisoners and absolute security guarantees. After Budapest, Georgia and Minsk, we know what agreements with Putin are worth. These guarantees require sufficient military force to prevent a new invasion.
Finally—and this is the most urgent because it is what will take the most time—we must build a European defense, too-long neglected to the benefit of the American umbrella since 1945 and scuttled since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
It is a Herculean task, but it is on its success or failure that the leaders of today’s democratic Europe will be judged in the history books.
Friedrich Merz has just declared that Europe needs its own military alliance. This is a way to recognize that France has been right for decades in arguing for strategic autonomy.
It remains to build it.
It will be necessary to invest massively, strengthen the European Defense Fund outside the Maastricht debt criteria, harmonize weapons and munitions systems, accelerate the entry into the [European] Union of Ukraine, which is today the leading European army, rethink the place and conditions of nuclear deterrence based on French and British capabilities, relaunch the anti-missile defense and satellite programs.
The plan announced yesterday by Ursula von der Leyen is a very good starting point. And much more will be needed.
Europe will only become a military power again by becoming an industrial power again. In a word, the Draghi report will have to be implemented. For good.
But the real rearmament of Europe is its moral rearmament.
We must convince public opinion against war weariness and fear, and especially in the face of Putin’s cronies, the far right and the far left.
They argued again yesterday in the National Assembly, Mr Prime Minister, before you, against European unity, against European defense.
They say they want peace. What neither they nor Trump say is that their peace is capitulation, the peace of defeat, the replacement of “de Gaulle Zelensky” by a “Ukrainian Pétain” at Putin’s beck and call. The peace of the collaborators who have refused any aid to the Ukrainians for three years.
Is this the end of the Atlantic Alliance? The risk is great.
But in the last few days, the public humiliation of Zelensky and all the crazy decisions taken during the past month have finally made the Americans react.
Polls are falling. Republican lawmakers are being greeted by hostile crowds in their constituencies. Even Fox News is becoming critical.
The Trumpists are no longer in their majesty. They control the executive, Congress, the Supreme Court, and social networks.
But in American history, the defenders of freedom have always prevailed. They are beginning to raise their heads.
The fate of Ukraine is being played out in the trenches, but it also depends on those in the US who want to defend democracy, and here on our ability to unite Europeans, find the means for their common defense, and make Europe the power it once was in history and that it hesitates to become again.
Our parents defeated fascism and communism at great cost.
The task of our generation is to defeat the totalitarianisms of the 21st century.
Long live free Ukraine, long live democratic Europe.
2025 Life Logs, Day 69: Crazy, Busy Day
2025 Life Logs, Day 69: Crazy, Busy Day
Date: Monday, March 10, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 58, Low 27 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Two hours of my morning was spent in a physical therapy session, including the travel time to and from. Then it was home for lunch and out the door again to a Farming Falmouth meeting where they presented their Food Assessment Report that was four years in the making. The Hermann Room at the library was jam packed with interested people. And the report was full of strategies for developing a stronger food system in our community. It was well worth the time to attend. I ran some errands afterwards, played outside with Shadow, and then was off to the Goldstones to get dinner for the boys while Heather and Jed were at their every other Monday night meetings. But once I got the food on the table, I told the boys they were own their own as I went to a town hall sponsored by the League of Women Voters with one of Falmouth’s state representatives, Thomas Moakley, and our state senator, Dylan Fernandez. One of the local state representatives could not make the forum, but even with just the two, it was very informative. And once again, the Hermann Room at the library was at full capacity. What a crazy, busy day, full of new information to process.
2025 Life Logs, Day 68: Taking Heart
2025 Life Logs, Day 68: Taking Heart
Date: Sunday, March 9, 2025
Weather: Sunny, Still Windy, Winds 20 SSW; High Temp 42, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Until yesterday, I had never heard of Hannah Arendt and this morning my daily feed from Robert Reich mentioned her name again as the author of THE ORIGINS OF TOTALITARIANISM. I must find out more about her. But in case you don’t read Robert Reich daily, I have copied today’s post below. It is worth the read.
I spent part of my day cooking dinner for tonight and tomorrow night. Heather and Jed were invited out to dinner tonight, so I fixed dinner and took it over to have with the Sam, Jonah, and Ollie. Tomorrow night is Select Board and Health Board meeting night, my every other Monday night regular dinner with the boys while Heather and Jed are in meetings. Tonight, we had artichokes and matzo ball soup. And tomorrow night we will have tacos. And now for Robert Reich’s post.
Taking Heart by Robert Reich, March 9
It seems like an eternity, but Tuesday marks the seventh week of this despicable regime. Before I post my Sunday cartoon, I’d like to talk about coping with the stresses of this era. A few people I know are coping by remaining in denial. They continue to normalize what’s happening in the familiar terms of Republican versus Democrat, right versus left, conservative versus liberal or progressive.
But they’re deluding themselves. There’s nothing normal about this. We’re in a different world now. Even calling this “Trump 2.0” radically understates what’s happening. The choice is democracy or dictatorship. Self-government or oligarchy. Everyone must choose sides. Not to choose is to accept the forces now in control — to allow Trump to become even more of a dictator and his billionaire backers and cronies to siphon up even more oligarchic wealth and power.
Another coping mechanism that’s just as dangerous is giving up — succumbing to cynicism, believing everything is hopeless. Those in this defeatist camp think nothing can prevent us from an apocalypse — the end of America, the termination of civilization, the death of the planet. They’ve stopped reading or listening to the news. They’ve turned their backs on activism. But defeatism is exactly what Trump, Vance, Musk, and Putin want us to feel. They’d like nothing better than for us to give up, so they can have it all. Cynicism and hopelessness play into their fetid hands. It’s also a self-fulfilling prophesy. If we believe we’re doomed, we’re doomed. The reality is that Trump, Vance, and Musk have done truly terrible things over the past seven weeks that are already hurting millions of people.But the regime has not extinguished hope or resolve. To the contrary, it is igniting activism. It’s fueling courage. I see it all around me, as I’m sure you do as well. Let me share with you my six coping mechanisms.
First, I’ve stopped listening to Trump and even stopped trying to analyze his warped psyche. I already know he’s spouting nothing but lies. And by now I’m familiar with his malignant narcissism.
Second, I no longer pay attention to the politicians, media personalities, political operatives, and pundits who are treating what’s happening as a variation on normal partisan politics. They’re tiresome and wrong.
Instead, I’m seeking out voices who understand the stakes, who give me reasons for hope and practical ideas for what you and I can do. I’ve already shared some of them with you and will share more this week. Some are voices from the past — people who lived through Hitler and Mussolini and Stalin, or through Mao’s “Cultural Revolution” or Pol Pot’s “killing fields.” Some are keen observers of what occurred (Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism) or historians (William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany provides a chilling account that echoes today).
Fourth, I’m interacting with people whose average age is a half-century younger than mine — my students at Berkeley and my colleagues at Inequality Media. Their energy, humor, and commitment continue to buoy my spirits.
Fifth, I’m relishing my friendships and holding my loved ones tight.
Finally, I’m writing this daily letter to you in hope that it helps you cope in all these ways — and inspires you to even more activism, resistance, rebellion, good trouble, and peaceful civil disobedience. These are familiar terms to those of us who remember the struggles over civil rights and the Vietnam War. They are as relevant for what we’re going through now as they were then.
In other words, one of the best way of coping with this nightmare is to fight it.
Keep calling the White House: 1-202-456-1414 (switchboard). 1-202-456-1111 (comments). Jam it.
Keep calling your senators and representatives. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. The switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate or House office you request.
Organize and mobilize for down ballot elections this year, and for House and Senate elections next year.
Protect the vulnerable in your community: undocumented workers. LGBTQ+ people. Vocal anti-Trumpers who may need protection from Trump vigilantes. Refugees from Ukraine. Others who need your help.
I’m sure you’ve found additional ways of fighting back. Please share them with us in today’s comments. Take heart. We will get through this and be stronger for it.
2025 Life Logs, Day 67: Lies
2025 Life Logs, Day 67: Lies
Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Still Windy, Winds 15-25 W; High Temp 42, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
The plans I had for today fell apart, so I just took the time to catch up on email communications and things around the house. I call that a catch-up day. I didn’t finish the job, so tomorrow will be more of the same. But I did have a lot of time to think, and guess where my thinking took me. Yes, right to the political mess in which we find ourselves. One of the things that bothers me the most is the constant lying. And today I saw a quote on my Facebook feed from Millionaires Quotes that I thought kind of nailed it.
“This constant lying is not aimed at making the people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore. A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and lies cannot distinguish between right and wrong. And such a people, deprived of the power to think and judge, is, without knowing and willing it, completely subjected to the rule of lies. With such a people, you can do whatever you want.” -Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was an American and German historian and philosopher and one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century. But when I looked that quote to see if it was valid, I found that it cannot be tracked down by scholars as a direct quote of hers. However, according to the same scholars the quote does capture her thinking. According to The Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities, the closest quote of hers in content is from an interview with Roger Errera in 1974, in what turned out to be Arendt’s last public interview. She spoke about the importance of a free press in an era of mass manipulation of truth and public lying.
“The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed? If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie—a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days—but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows. And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.”
–Hannah Arendt (14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975)
Today the public lies are running rampant. How do we deal with this?