Here is a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His “Beyond Vietnam” address given on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City. King’s identification of the systemic roots of racism, poverty, and war still resonate today:
“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Chris Hedges frequently uses the same meme:, I fight fascists not because I expect to win, but because they are fascists. A big difference between him and Caitlin is that he, perhaps because of his Calvinist belief in original sin, is more pessimistic about human nature. Hedges says, for example, that, though he agrees with Marx's criticism of capitalism, he is not a Marxist because Marx is too optimistic and too utopian. As much as I otherwise admire Hedges, I prefer Caitlin's insistence on optimism.
There has been a war on the land that is the US. Both Hawaii and Alaska were directly attacked in WWII. A good portion of the South and parts of the North were attack during the American Civil War. But people forget how their ancestors survived and persevered.
“The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing — for the sheer fun and joy of it — to go right ahead and fight, knowing you’re going to lose. You mustn’t feel like a martyr. You’ve got to enjoy it.” - I. F. Stone
I would argue that Marxists (iow, genuine socialists) are fundamentally optimistic: we believe the overthrow of the capitalist system is possible. Not inevitable, but possible. Otherwise we wouldn't bother to try. Some Marxists scoff at all that smells like subjectivity, saying the belief in the possibility of revolution isn't optimism per se, but the product of a thorough, methodical analysis of objective conditions, informed by boatloads of theoretical and historical knowledge. I'll take it either way, be it resilient, instinctive, defiant hope, or the result of rigorous intellectual work, or some combination of both.
I also believe in the principled refusal to give up, as mentioned above: fighting them not because we are sure to win, but because they are fascists. We don't go down without a fight. Fuck 'em.
If I.F. Stone were alive and reporting today he’d be doing exactly what the independent journalists are doing now — using the wide reach of the internet to reach as many people as possible with the facts. This really has turned the tide and exposed the genocide one TikTok video at a time. It created a groundswell of outrage that made all the demonstrations possible.
I’m encouraged when I look at the young people and see they’re rejecting glib excuses to hate others and aren’t as easily taken in by MSM.
Feudalism in Europe last 1000 years, the Dark Ages spanned 5 centuries, The witch craze - during which millions of women and alleged heretics were burnt at the stake as a matter of accepted social practice - persisted for over 3 centuries.
Societies change comes close to a geological timescale. Not literally, of course - it doesn't take millions of years - but from the perspective of a human lifespan, even a few centuries might as well be an eternity.
That's why I think this, too, will eventually pass. There will come a time when the US will have universal healthcare. I doubt humanity will ever achieve permanent world peace and peace is not innate in our nature. But many things that once seemed permanent have disappeared, and many ideas once dismissed as impossible eventually became ordinary.
The difficult part is that this kind of change rarely happens fast enough for the people going through it. The world we envision here won't happen in our lifetimes, or our children's, and not even our grandchildren's or their children's. I think it will take centuries for humans to get there. History teaches that while change is inevitable, it is never swift Time is the only true constant, and meaningful social progress usually unfolds over centuries and millennia, not decades.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. We're here on this faraway planet where everything changes, as you say, but we have choice. We can go where we choose and this is ennobling - if we end up in a good or better place it is because we did it. Unfortunately, the time situation has also changed ; we can now destroy the living world in about 72 MINUTES, so we will need to be cognizant and careful!
Two amazing changes have happened in our lifetime:
(1) LGBT children are no longer as isolated and their suicide rates have gone down. This was unimaginable in my childhood.
(2) Also, safer and more legal abortion. Obviously, there is a long way to go in Amerikkka around this, but that a high school student in a place without abortion can take a bus to a neighboring state, probably without their parent finding out and beating them to a pulp, and getting a safe abortion.
Sure, it isn't a direct attack on imperialism and liberal elites like the Dems use cultural issues to maintain capitalism, but MANY children's lives are so much better and they can survive to be adult freedom fighters.
For one, I think it's doubtful to claim that LGBT children are no longer isolated. It depends entirely on which communities you're talking about. LGBT kids growing up in Amish communities, most Muslim households, or deeply conservative Christian families often face the same isolation, fear, and rejection that existed generations ago. Even someone like Lindsey Graham has never publicly come out despite decades in public life. That alone says something.
That said, I'll concede that life for LGBT people is, on the whole, better today than it was 20 or 30 years ago. But if you're looking at the span of human history, 30 years is a blink of an eye. You're fortunate that some of that progress happened during your lifetime, but that doesn't mean the struggle itself began 30 years ago. These movements have been unfolding for centuries.
And on abortion - what are you talking about? A constitutionally protected right was overturned. States have enacted laws that punish or attempt to penalize people for seeking abortions elsewhere. Since Roe was overturned, women have died because doctors delayed or withheld medically necessary care out of fear of criminal prosecution. When physicians hesitate to treat a patient because they're worried about preserving a fetus or protecting themselves from legal liability, that's regression, not progress. Even where abortion remains legal, forcing people to travel across state lines or navigate endless legal barriers is hardly evidence that the fight is over.
Look at Black liberation. Slavery officially ended in 1865, but it took another century before the Civil Rights Act became law. If you were a Black American born before then, you lived under a system of legally sanctioned segregation and discrimination. And even today, the effects of that history remain obvious.
Real social change doesn't happen over a few decades. You're confusing the moment you witnessed progress with the beginning of the struggle. For virtually every major civil rights movement - whether for LGBT people, women, or Black Americans - the fight began generations, often centuries, before either of us was born.
And having grown up in the south in a conservative church and being engaged in LGBT Christian organizing (and I am old!), I can pretty assuredly say that, despite the depredations of closeted elders, continuing suicides and widespread shame, the shituation is truly better thanks to the tons of LGBT loving parents/folks/clergy & brave LGBT folks themselves in the church fighting back every day. We really CAN make a difference sometime by deep community organizing intersection-ally. Sadly, not always. And, celebrating hard-won victories in deep community organizing is important for oppressed folks to hear, as well is your well-articulated mention of Black liberation fighters leading most struggles. "Optimism is in the streets!"
And yes, thank you, acknowledging our Black elders in the Civil Rights work who made so many other movements possible is so key too. We are all connected and indebted to Black Liberation movements and activists. Peace and love.
But Ginnie, Time is not linear - it doesn't flow continuously in one unbroken direction - it is cyclical. Human beings won't even notice the bend as it covers millennia.
To stir a lethargic, apathetic, self-centered and disengaged society into action must seem like an impossible task. Particularly when that society has been conditioned to not discuss anything serious in social discourse and just focus on sports, entertainment and trivia -- a modern version of bread and circuses absent the bread. Political reformers urge us to work within the system and the ballot box to spur change but when the system is all corrupted revolutionary change is necessary.
Just think how many millions today agree with your sentiment about Israel, when not that long ago, those who held similar views were as crying in the wilderness, and numbered in the single digits.
Thank you Caitlin. I need this reminder to hope, especially today. At the end of my life, I want to be able to say I never gave up working for the world that could be.
And hold tight to a vision of a peaceful world where everyone has enough to eat, a roof over their head and the opportunity to become their best selves. And refuse to participate in things that counter that vision.
Having genuine, deep flesh and blood egalitarian ( not missionary and not just as a so-called "ally") ties with other oppressed and exploited people especially those who have it worse than you... And develop empathy and solidarity and especially learn from them how they cope day by day with their oppression. Because... Just to give one example... A single mom living in poverty and discrimination... Even if she is "not sophisticated in leftist history in theory"..... She may well have more experience and more skill in dealing with oppression.
Without having those genuine relationships, It is.... To use a superficial metaphor.... Like trying to learn a musical instrument without ever touching one.
And of course, learning history on the ups and downs and keep someone from getting too optimistic and therefore passive with their illusions when things seem momentarily to be getting much better... Or too pessimistic... And therefore passive with their disillusionment ehen things go bad.
Here is a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His “Beyond Vietnam” address given on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City. King’s identification of the systemic roots of racism, poverty, and war still resonate today:
“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Be strong, comrades.
Yes! Stuart Estrine, " What to the slave is fourth of July...." Frederick Douglass . July 5th 1852.
Chris Hedges frequently uses the same meme:, I fight fascists not because I expect to win, but because they are fascists. A big difference between him and Caitlin is that he, perhaps because of his Calvinist belief in original sin, is more pessimistic about human nature. Hedges says, for example, that, though he agrees with Marx's criticism of capitalism, he is not a Marxist because Marx is too optimistic and too utopian. As much as I otherwise admire Hedges, I prefer Caitlin's insistence on optimism.
I would like to make a point here:
It is very easy to talk about 'optimism' if you have never been through a war on your own land. This includes Australia and the USA
I don't like being preached to about 'optimism' although it is a fair point.
It seems at 77yrs old I have been fighting Governments all my life.
There has been a war on the land that is the US. Both Hawaii and Alaska were directly attacked in WWII. A good portion of the South and parts of the North were attack during the American Civil War. But people forget how their ancestors survived and persevered.
I mean the type of war the US delivers to other countries........in the name of Democracy that the US has not had for years.
I couldn't agree more.
Excellent article! Thanks! Very inspirational.
“The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing — for the sheer fun and joy of it — to go right ahead and fight, knowing you’re going to lose. You mustn’t feel like a martyr. You’ve got to enjoy it.” - I. F. Stone
Tom High, This is an epitaph written for Rosa Luxembourg : " She told the poor the truth, so they did away with her ".
I would argue that Marxists (iow, genuine socialists) are fundamentally optimistic: we believe the overthrow of the capitalist system is possible. Not inevitable, but possible. Otherwise we wouldn't bother to try. Some Marxists scoff at all that smells like subjectivity, saying the belief in the possibility of revolution isn't optimism per se, but the product of a thorough, methodical analysis of objective conditions, informed by boatloads of theoretical and historical knowledge. I'll take it either way, be it resilient, instinctive, defiant hope, or the result of rigorous intellectual work, or some combination of both.
I also believe in the principled refusal to give up, as mentioned above: fighting them not because we are sure to win, but because they are fascists. We don't go down without a fight. Fuck 'em.
Thank you for this article.
Well said. As Woody Guthrie's guitar said, "This guitar fights fascists." Use whatever skills and optimism you have and keep fighting.
I prefer realism, viewing the world and its possibilities and limitations as they are, not as I wish them to be.
You can do both. The one does not exclude the other. In fact, both are essential.
If I.F. Stone were alive and reporting today he’d be doing exactly what the independent journalists are doing now — using the wide reach of the internet to reach as many people as possible with the facts. This really has turned the tide and exposed the genocide one TikTok video at a time. It created a groundswell of outrage that made all the demonstrations possible.
I’m encouraged when I look at the young people and see they’re rejecting glib excuses to hate others and aren’t as easily taken in by MSM.
As do I, but I’m ready to stand in front of a tank if the opportunity presents itself.
I've got your back if you have mine!
Corruption begats treason
Treason begats tyrants
The ancient Greeks had a way of dealing with them.
Feudalism in Europe last 1000 years, the Dark Ages spanned 5 centuries, The witch craze - during which millions of women and alleged heretics were burnt at the stake as a matter of accepted social practice - persisted for over 3 centuries.
Societies change comes close to a geological timescale. Not literally, of course - it doesn't take millions of years - but from the perspective of a human lifespan, even a few centuries might as well be an eternity.
That's why I think this, too, will eventually pass. There will come a time when the US will have universal healthcare. I doubt humanity will ever achieve permanent world peace and peace is not innate in our nature. But many things that once seemed permanent have disappeared, and many ideas once dismissed as impossible eventually became ordinary.
The difficult part is that this kind of change rarely happens fast enough for the people going through it. The world we envision here won't happen in our lifetimes, or our children's, and not even our grandchildren's or their children's. I think it will take centuries for humans to get there. History teaches that while change is inevitable, it is never swift Time is the only true constant, and meaningful social progress usually unfolds over centuries and millennia, not decades.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. We're here on this faraway planet where everything changes, as you say, but we have choice. We can go where we choose and this is ennobling - if we end up in a good or better place it is because we did it. Unfortunately, the time situation has also changed ; we can now destroy the living world in about 72 MINUTES, so we will need to be cognizant and careful!
Two amazing changes have happened in our lifetime:
(1) LGBT children are no longer as isolated and their suicide rates have gone down. This was unimaginable in my childhood.
(2) Also, safer and more legal abortion. Obviously, there is a long way to go in Amerikkka around this, but that a high school student in a place without abortion can take a bus to a neighboring state, probably without their parent finding out and beating them to a pulp, and getting a safe abortion.
Sure, it isn't a direct attack on imperialism and liberal elites like the Dems use cultural issues to maintain capitalism, but MANY children's lives are so much better and they can survive to be adult freedom fighters.
For one, I think it's doubtful to claim that LGBT children are no longer isolated. It depends entirely on which communities you're talking about. LGBT kids growing up in Amish communities, most Muslim households, or deeply conservative Christian families often face the same isolation, fear, and rejection that existed generations ago. Even someone like Lindsey Graham has never publicly come out despite decades in public life. That alone says something.
That said, I'll concede that life for LGBT people is, on the whole, better today than it was 20 or 30 years ago. But if you're looking at the span of human history, 30 years is a blink of an eye. You're fortunate that some of that progress happened during your lifetime, but that doesn't mean the struggle itself began 30 years ago. These movements have been unfolding for centuries.
And on abortion - what are you talking about? A constitutionally protected right was overturned. States have enacted laws that punish or attempt to penalize people for seeking abortions elsewhere. Since Roe was overturned, women have died because doctors delayed or withheld medically necessary care out of fear of criminal prosecution. When physicians hesitate to treat a patient because they're worried about preserving a fetus or protecting themselves from legal liability, that's regression, not progress. Even where abortion remains legal, forcing people to travel across state lines or navigate endless legal barriers is hardly evidence that the fight is over.
Look at Black liberation. Slavery officially ended in 1865, but it took another century before the Civil Rights Act became law. If you were a Black American born before then, you lived under a system of legally sanctioned segregation and discrimination. And even today, the effects of that history remain obvious.
Real social change doesn't happen over a few decades. You're confusing the moment you witnessed progress with the beginning of the struggle. For virtually every major civil rights movement - whether for LGBT people, women, or Black Americans - the fight began generations, often centuries, before either of us was born.
Amen to that!
And having grown up in the south in a conservative church and being engaged in LGBT Christian organizing (and I am old!), I can pretty assuredly say that, despite the depredations of closeted elders, continuing suicides and widespread shame, the shituation is truly better thanks to the tons of LGBT loving parents/folks/clergy & brave LGBT folks themselves in the church fighting back every day. We really CAN make a difference sometime by deep community organizing intersection-ally. Sadly, not always. And, celebrating hard-won victories in deep community organizing is important for oppressed folks to hear, as well is your well-articulated mention of Black liberation fighters leading most struggles. "Optimism is in the streets!"
And yes, thank you, acknowledging our Black elders in the Civil Rights work who made so many other movements possible is so key too. We are all connected and indebted to Black Liberation movements and activists. Peace and love.
But Ginnie, Time is not linear - it doesn't flow continuously in one unbroken direction - it is cyclical. Human beings won't even notice the bend as it covers millennia.
To stir a lethargic, apathetic, self-centered and disengaged society into action must seem like an impossible task. Particularly when that society has been conditioned to not discuss anything serious in social discourse and just focus on sports, entertainment and trivia -- a modern version of bread and circuses absent the bread. Political reformers urge us to work within the system and the ballot box to spur change but when the system is all corrupted revolutionary change is necessary.
No pressure. We will win. Do not be counter revolutionary. Educate. Agitate. Fuck Israel and it's supporters. TY Caitlin & Tim.
Just think how many millions today agree with your sentiment about Israel, when not that long ago, those who held similar views were as crying in the wilderness, and numbered in the single digits.
Thank you Caitlin. I need this reminder to hope, especially today. At the end of my life, I want to be able to say I never gave up working for the world that could be.
And hold tight to a vision of a peaceful world where everyone has enough to eat, a roof over their head and the opportunity to become their best selves. And refuse to participate in things that counter that vision.
Nothing great ever comes without great sacrifices.
Rest in Power Hind Rajab
Thank you darling. I must practice!
Having genuine, deep flesh and blood egalitarian ( not missionary and not just as a so-called "ally") ties with other oppressed and exploited people especially those who have it worse than you... And develop empathy and solidarity and especially learn from them how they cope day by day with their oppression. Because... Just to give one example... A single mom living in poverty and discrimination... Even if she is "not sophisticated in leftist history in theory"..... She may well have more experience and more skill in dealing with oppression.
Without having those genuine relationships, It is.... To use a superficial metaphor.... Like trying to learn a musical instrument without ever touching one.
And of course, learning history on the ups and downs and keep someone from getting too optimistic and therefore passive with their illusions when things seem momentarily to be getting much better... Or too pessimistic... And therefore passive with their disillusionment ehen things go bad.
Thanks, I really needed that.
Excellent! Inspirational!