Seeing him for who he is is quite literally bare minimum. They already enabled his harm and they haven't changed; they just see that now he harms them too. Not really in a forgiving mood for people who haven't tried to earn it.
I am from Taiwan and I 100% stand with you. No more infantilising the political choices they have made. They and we are all adults. I don’t care about their apologies either. Just own up to it and vote for progressive causes.
Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. It does not mean trusting. It does not imply that things return to what they were. Much as in a divorce, you can’t move on until you let go.
Forgiveness is always done for the self, not the other.
I will forgive because I don’t wish to be eaten from the inside by hate. I won’t give them that. But I also won’t forget. Or trust. And I will demand accountability.
Retribution is somewhat redundant following accountability. It means both punishment and recompense for wrongdoing both of which are implied in “accountability.” Probably best to end the sentence there.
I'll be happy with giving them healthcare, like every American should get healthcare. They can see for themselves that paying taxes for something that benefits ALL of us isn't a freaking bad thing.
This premise suggests everyone is highly politically aware. Believe me, most people aren’t.
Why did a plurality of people vote for Trump the second time? Because prices were too high, the border was a mess and Joe Biden had a health event during a presidential debate.
If those low info voters are like “this isn’t what I signed up for”, I’m happy to bring them back into the tent. If you’re talking about those who should’ve known better - primarily traditional Republicans who stayed with Trump because they wanted proximity to power - then I’m with you.
But, they heard the warning from the world and chose their propaganda. Or backed their crappy ass Congress people spouting it. They watched j6 and heard the lies. They saw the 1000s of lies and name calling. The evidence of him being harmful. No. No one voted blindly. They voted selfishly.
The German writer Walter Kempowski, who lived through the years 1933 to 1945 as a teenager, described the world as he saw and experienced it. What is striking in his reflections is how ordinary life appeared to so many. The system did not feel like a system. Reality did not fully register until the bombs began to fall. Only then did the structure surrounding them become undeniable.
There is an unsettling echo of that sentiment in your Substack piece. I can understand that some voters had motives they regarded as legitimate. Economic anxiety, cultural change, distrust of institutions. These are not invented feelings. Hannah Arendt, in her analysis of totalitarian movements, recognised how ordinary grievances can become entangled with dangerous politics.
But understanding is not the same as absolution. We are not in the 1930s. We live in the twenty first century with unprecedented access to information. A basic laptop grants entry to archives, history, investigative journalism, and translations across languages. Ignorance today is rarely enforced. More often it is chosen.
There is a difference between those drawn to openly exclusionary groups and those who convinced themselves they were voting for something more abstract. Yet the direction of travel was not hidden. The rhetoric was not subtle. The signals were clear. Many now object to the methods, to the tone, to the visible consequences. Far fewer object to the underlying impulses that brought those methods to power.
Regret, when it appears, tends to arrive late and quietly. It surfaces only when the costs become personal or undeniable. Until then, what we see is not so much remorse as discomfort with optics. And that distinction matters.
Seeing him for who he is is quite literally bare minimum. They already enabled his harm and they haven't changed; they just see that now he harms them too. Not really in a forgiving mood for people who haven't tried to earn it.
I will never ever forgive them. But I will take the vote.
Fantastic, Lyle, thank you for your honesty!
As a Canadian, I feel 100% the same.
I will never forget the way that my country has been continually threatened & mocked. I will never forgive those responsible.
And the chances of me returning to the US, either as a tourist or a consumer, are slim to none.
The fascist regime & their supporters are responsible for that.
I get your hesitation to return but if you do decide to come to NYC I’ll happily host you!
I feel the same. MAGA does not get a pass.
There was absolutely no excuse for being too f’ing dumb to realize who they were voting for. This whole mess is their fault.
Hell yes!
I am from Taiwan and I 100% stand with you. No more infantilising the political choices they have made. They and we are all adults. I don’t care about their apologies either. Just own up to it and vote for progressive causes.
Glad to have you here. Humanity is about moving forward and progress. Only one party seems to understand that.
Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. It does not mean trusting. It does not imply that things return to what they were. Much as in a divorce, you can’t move on until you let go.
Forgiveness is always done for the self, not the other.
I will forgive because I don’t wish to be eaten from the inside by hate. I won’t give them that. But I also won’t forget. Or trust. And I will demand accountability.
Accountability and restitution? Is that what you meant to say?
Retribution is somewhat redundant following accountability. It means both punishment and recompense for wrongdoing both of which are implied in “accountability.” Probably best to end the sentence there.
Try again. I wrote accountability and RESTITUTION. There’s a huge difference there.
We can debate this all day. Accountability implies restitution. Sometimes less is more.
You wrote “retribution” in your response of 2/16. I think that’s where the disconnect lies.
What you wrote today answers my question.
Thank you.
love this
Thanks Nancy. Was a primal scream of an essay.
This! Yes!
And then, when we are in control, and we will be, we will come for you.
I'll be happy with giving them healthcare, like every American should get healthcare. They can see for themselves that paying taxes for something that benefits ALL of us isn't a freaking bad thing.
This premise suggests everyone is highly politically aware. Believe me, most people aren’t.
Why did a plurality of people vote for Trump the second time? Because prices were too high, the border was a mess and Joe Biden had a health event during a presidential debate.
If those low info voters are like “this isn’t what I signed up for”, I’m happy to bring them back into the tent. If you’re talking about those who should’ve known better - primarily traditional Republicans who stayed with Trump because they wanted proximity to power - then I’m with you.
But, they heard the warning from the world and chose their propaganda. Or backed their crappy ass Congress people spouting it. They watched j6 and heard the lies. They saw the 1000s of lies and name calling. The evidence of him being harmful. No. No one voted blindly. They voted selfishly.
The German writer Walter Kempowski, who lived through the years 1933 to 1945 as a teenager, described the world as he saw and experienced it. What is striking in his reflections is how ordinary life appeared to so many. The system did not feel like a system. Reality did not fully register until the bombs began to fall. Only then did the structure surrounding them become undeniable.
There is an unsettling echo of that sentiment in your Substack piece. I can understand that some voters had motives they regarded as legitimate. Economic anxiety, cultural change, distrust of institutions. These are not invented feelings. Hannah Arendt, in her analysis of totalitarian movements, recognised how ordinary grievances can become entangled with dangerous politics.
But understanding is not the same as absolution. We are not in the 1930s. We live in the twenty first century with unprecedented access to information. A basic laptop grants entry to archives, history, investigative journalism, and translations across languages. Ignorance today is rarely enforced. More often it is chosen.
There is a difference between those drawn to openly exclusionary groups and those who convinced themselves they were voting for something more abstract. Yet the direction of travel was not hidden. The rhetoric was not subtle. The signals were clear. Many now object to the methods, to the tone, to the visible consequences. Far fewer object to the underlying impulses that brought those methods to power.
Regret, when it appears, tends to arrive late and quietly. It surfaces only when the costs become personal or undeniable. Until then, what we see is not so much remorse as discomfort with optics. And that distinction matters.