Subject: Zinn: 'People Behaving Magnificently'
You probably know that one of the news sites I read regularly is CommonDreams.org.
They are reader supported, need donations, and they send me appeals. But that is not what this is about.
This is about the words of the famous Howard Zinn, quoted below For your possible recollection, one of the things Howard Zinn is best known for is his book, A People's History of the United States (1980), which has been gaining new popularity of late due to schools in certain states banning it. :-7
If you want to donate to Common Dreams--and I plan to--just go there and click the donate button. But, again, this message is to send you the words of Howard Zinn, quoted below, for whatever inspiration they may have for you personally. I've left in other words from the CommonDreams email for context. love to all, Larry
----from Common Dreams email of August 19, 2013------------
The Common Dreams news team works hard every day bringing the you the news that matters. The good news—and the bad news.
It often seems like it is all bad news. And yet, we forge ahead and remain ever hopeful. We refuse to give up and give in.
Howard Zinn, the late, great author, activist and friend of Common Dreams, explained the phenomenon in words better than we ever could...
The Common Dreams news team works hard every day bringing the you the news that matters. The good news—and the bad news.
You probably know that one of the news sites I read regularly is CommonDreams.org.
They are reader supported, need donations, and they send me appeals. But that is not what this is about.
This is about the words of the famous Howard Zinn, quoted below For your possible recollection, one of the things Howard Zinn is best known for is his book, A People's History of the United States (1980), which has been gaining new popularity of late due to schools in certain states banning it. :-7
If you want to donate to Common Dreams--and I plan to--just go there and click the donate button. But, again, this message is to send you the words of Howard Zinn, quoted below, for whatever inspiration they may have for you personally. I've left in other words from the CommonDreams email for context. love to all, Larry
----from Common Dreams email of August 19, 2013------------
The Common Dreams news team works hard every day bringing the you the news that matters. The good news—and the bad news.
It often seems like it is all bad news. And yet, we forge ahead and remain ever hopeful. We refuse to give up and give in.
Howard Zinn, the late, great author, activist and friend of Common Dreams, explained the phenomenon in words better than we ever could...
The Common Dreams news team works hard every day bringing the you the news that matters. The good news—and the bad news.
It often seems like it is all bad news. And yet, we forge ahead
and remain ever hopeful. We refuse to give up and give in.Howard Zinn, the late, great author, activist and friend of Common Dreams, explained the phenomenon in words better than we ever could...
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction."
"And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
We get a lot of feedback from our readers and what we hear most often is that we are helping to give them hope. That we help show the world that there are millions who haven't given up in the fight for a just and sustainable future—millions who are “behaving magnificently” helping to send “this spinning top of a world in a different direction.”
We hear over and over that we help inspire people to keep working for social change when they see that they are not acting alone. And many readers say we helped them get up from behind their computer screens and take action—either for the very first time or after years of sitting on the sidelines.
--------end of Common Dreams email of August 19, 2013----------
Larry
