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Such powerful piece, Beth, one that lays out, with sharp, provocative points, the monstrous, very human, inescapable demand that we figure out how the hell to LIVE WITH EACH OTHER! I particularly appreciated the background anecdotes of your own life, your own experiences, illustrated how they helped build the foundation and expansion of your perspective and worldview. You come at it in a form of narrative poetry (all so well written and articulated), which makes the inherent hopes, lessons, ideas not only brain-tickling, but lovely to read... and to hopefully gain insight from.

To be honest, I don't know if we ARE "better than what we’ve been lately," (this past week has left me particularly unconvinced!), but like you, I too "hope we find that thread of humility, decency and good humor again, for all our sakes."

Beautifully, powerfully stated, all of it. Thank you.

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Thank you very, very much, Lorraine. My hope is that people realize, more fully than many do now, that we need each other. Societies and civilizations crumble unless there’s a shared vision, and respect for one another. It’s saddening to see how fast and how furiously tribalism comes to the fore when disagreements arise.

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It is sad, and it seems to have become more entrenched in recent years (I blame Trump and Trumpism...), but I am an optimist. So I hold hope for your hope.

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Well done, Beth! I missed this in 2016, but I'm sure glad I caught it today.

Timely AF.

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Awww, thank you Steve. I hope people take it in the spirit with which it was written, which is LET’S FIGURE OUT TO GET ALONG, instead of wasting so much energy fighting. I’m tired of fighting. I think a lot of people are. I HOPE a lot are.

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Yes, you are spot on with many of our experiences with the Great American Experiment in both small and large encounters. I would encourage you to listen to one of MLK's last speeches, one where I was part of what was happening then. I dropped out for 4 years after that, then returned with a resolve to keep working for the common good. The link to King's speech. "The Other America" is in my post here on Substack under "MLK and Me." Thanks for sharing. Many of us have similar stories and we're still writing them. Grateful!

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Thank you, Gary, I appreciate that very much. And yes! I will listen to that speech, sadly, I'm not familiar with it, but I'll rectify that tonight. We have to keep trying for that "more perfect union", otherwise we all lose. Everybody loses.

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Thanks! 1968 was a watershed year for me, a big shift leaving one profession, going back to graduate school again and heading for another career. It was the MLK experience that precipitated the change, a big one, since it involved not only me, but a wife and 3 young children. The "Great American Experiment" will always be a work in progress. Working and progressing, not going back!

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In 1968 I was 12 years old, just barely registering what was going on in the world. But I watched as my parents hung on every word MLK spoke, and watched my mother cry as we heard the news of his assassination. It was the first event of its kind I remember being struck by, as a child. It wasn’t just something I read in a history book.

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Yes, it's different when you have been part of it, lived through it, felt the impact, and wondered, what next? Reading about historical events is different from being there. Another example was listening to those WWII vets about D-Day. They were kids, and while they survived, many did not. Our lack of understanding and appreciation is sometimes incomprehensible.

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