reader. writer.

Love letters to democracy: While I prefer to write fiction and blog on random topics, sometimes I write something that lies somewhere between an ode to democracy and a bit of a rant. This happens often enough that I finally set up a page for this topic on its own.

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Democracy, yes, please: reflections drawn from my weekly check-ins

10/4/2025 Two seemingly opposite ideas can be true. The first is that there are near constant reasons for alarm and grief in my country right now, in particular the brutal treatment of our fellow human beings, including US citizens, by people claiming to represent our government, not to mention the reckless destruction of programs designed to serve us all. So we need to pay attention and take action whenever we can. Let me be clear where I stand: elected and appointed Republicans are betraying the public trust and proving that they are exceptionally talented at criticizing government and totally incompetent if not wholly corrupt when put in charge of government.

At the same time, I weary of outrage. We suffer from a media ecosystem that conflates newsworthy-ness with entertainment and political strategists who have decided the ends justify the means, so demonizing one’s opponents is allowed to substitute for educating us on meaningful policy distinctions. It feels as if our political leaders are forced to behave like pro-wrestlers, seeking ever more spectacle to keep an apathetic public engaged.

It is a chicken and egg situation I know—media and politicians tailor their efforts to suit a public easily bored and impatient with details, so short in attention that tl;dr doesn’t even get the dignity of full words, only initials.

Like many of our challenges, there is a solution other than trying to shame individuals into reading policy briefs—like pollution, like fair wages, like campaign contributions, like ending gerrymandering, this can’t be done unilaterally or through individual efforts—we must apply restrictions to everyone. A restaurant that pays its staff a living wage will be at a disadvantage if the competitors are allowed to rely on tips, choosing to let the staff bear the financial risks instead of the owners. A company that embraces environmentally-friendly approaches including pollution reduction will have fewer profits than one that doesn’t. Etcetera. 

The delivery of news shouldn’t be affected by profits or ratings. Campaign contributions should be highly restricted, and our primary source of information should be reputable news organizations, ideally independent public ones with sufficient funding to research fully and report on candidates and politics in transparent ways.

We also need sweeping limits on corruption—politics wouldn’t be such a big business if individuals and corporations didn’t make so much money when they help unscrupulous politicians win. 

As someone whose nerves can’t take much more of politics as pro-wrestling, let me say this from deep in my heart—let politics be boring. And may government work to benefit us all, not the corrupt few.

9/18/2025 Once again, multiple shootings took place in my country, this time including the death of a right-wing political celebrity. I don’t need to know anything about the people involved to know one thing for certain: I don’t want anyone to shoot anyone, anywhere, ever. I feel sad for anyone in the world who is grieving or who is traumatized from being in the vicinity of violence. I felt that way before last week, and I will feel that way tomorrow and the next day and the day after that, forever and ever, amen.

9/4/2025 Today I’m pondering the concept of wicked versus simple problems. I only recently learned these terms, but I find this framing insightful, even liberating. I’ll make a stab at explaining. A simple problem is one that has one straightforward solution. One example might be developing a medicine that cures or prevents a disease. Problem solved. A wicked problem refers to problems that don’t have one direct solution. Historically, poverty is an example of a wicked problem. We can do a lot to reduce it, and we have, but we have no single solution to resolve it. Caring for our environment is a wicked problem because there is not one solution that would make everything fine forever—there are multiple interventions, some of which involve trade-offs, accepting lesser harms to embrace greater benefits.

This comes to mind right now because outrages are occurring in plain sight that could make us long for one simple solution. It’s so tempting to imagine that all it will take is one brave politician or one massive protest or maybe just letting it all fall apart so that (magically?) everything will be better afterwards. Of course, of course, of course, we want a quick and direct solution at the sight of our military invading our own country, or the prospect of life-saving vaccines undermined or eliminated, or morally-bankrupt individuals plotting to deport children in the middle of the night. And of course, the problems that created these bonkers situations are mostly wicked, calling for not one solution but countless interventions. 

Maybe it’s a little like me trying to figure out how to fix problems in my novels. I can’t freak out because I don’t have all the answers. I just have to keep trying to do what I can, even if it’s small, even if it doesn’t fix everything forever. I sometimes say in response to people feeling understandable impatience at the sight of huge challenges that “Even small steps help.” But maybe I’m getting it wrong. It’s not that “even” small steps help, but that small steps turn out to be the only option, countless positive actions taken by countless people, again, and again, and again. And when/if things improve? Keep going. Again and again and again.

8/29/2025: Rebecca Solnit’s recent blog piece on the value of “bread and roses” provided insights I needed. There are terrible things happening all around the world, including the unbearable prospect of mass starvation used as a weapon, inflicted by those who should know better. Also taking place are unsettling events, power grabs that may or may not stick, including court cases over rights so entrenched in our constitution that it is jaw-dropping that a court ruling is even necessary. And of course, endless events that aren’t necessarily harming anyone but are just so damn irritating (Gulf of what?). Any of these events alone could justify spiraling in endless outrage, and certainly we should take action when and however we can to push for peace, justice, empathy, food for the hungry, shelter for those in need, compassion and more compassion to replace soldiers in our streets… And yet, it’s been months. Indeed, for those who have been paying attention, it’s been years, decades. Outrage has its place, as does political action, and yes, we need bread. And also roses. 

8/22/2025: There’s a lot going on, so many reasons to be angry, outraged, alarmed, and dismayed that it’s exhausting. But I’ve been trying to let go of these reactions, to sidestep them so that I can keep focusing back on what I can do, what is helpful, what is sustainable in the face of such malice. And for me, that means finding ways to stay connected to other people, not only, as I’ve said, to find ways to take action but also to cultivate basic human connections. As a friend told me, they are trying to tear us apart. We don’t have to let them.

8/15/2025: I wonder if we will ever have an accurate estimate of the harm inflicted by the reckless cuts to healthcare funding and research by this administration, from USAID to Medicaid. I want to believe that what has been destroyed can be rebuilt (but how much harm, waste, and tragic loss will take place before then?) In the meantime, I have to hope that breakthroughs in medical science and innovations in public health models will be achieved by other countries, including ways to make a curable, treatable disease like TB no longer the number one cause of death. 

All I know is this: some countries fund healthcare, education, infrastructure, and scientific research. My country funds CEOs.

8/8/2025: Gerrymandering is currently in the news. I live in a state that has suffered for a decade or so from the effects of Republican gerrymandering, in which voting districts are carefully designed to ensure that Republican politicians will win, regardless of what the voters prefer. This year, my county has also been gerrymandered by our state legislature because corruption breeds more corruption. So, I’ve spent time lately thinking about what it means to have representatives who don’t have to pay attention to their constituents, just puppets playing a part where we don’t get to see who holds the strings.

Of course, no algorithm or convoluted redistricting plan can change this self-evident truth: power belongs to the people. Unfortunately, it’s the difference between burning down a forest and growing a new one. One happens fast; the other is painfully slow. The autocrat-enablers are burning everything down right now. 

All we can do is keep working to limit the harm—and keep planting seeds for something better.

7/24/2025: I often stumble upon online drama among those who could be allies, and this is what I now tell myself: Each of us can be imperfect and still help defend democracy, free speech, and human rights. 

After I wrote that, I worried it sounds as if I didn’t think it mattered if a politician or public figure has done or said something harmful: um, yes, we should care, and we should support the best advocates for democracy we can find. Suggesting that perfect is the enemy of the good isn’t the same as shrugging off the bad. 

This is my main thought— just that it doesn’t make sense to act as if nothing can change unless everyone is on the same page on every issue. We all just have to start wherever we are, address blind spots whenever possible, and find common ground as often as we can.  At least, that’s my goal —tune out the drama and focus on what I can do to help. 

7/17/2025: I head out later today to take part in a nearby Good Trouble Lives On protest—even my protest posters are overly earnest, as today’s photo reveals. At the last march, another marcher asked me if I was a lawyer, perhaps because I listed all the terrible governmental actions I did NOT consent to. I’m also still digesting the burst of inspiration and insight from the #OneMillionRising zoom training last night, especially the reminder that we are all in this together.

7/3/2025: OMG. A disastrous vote juxtaposed with a tour of a concentration camp in the Everglades–I had to sit with the grief I felt at the prospect of even more human suffering. Even worse is knowing it is intentional, not some unfortunate unexpected consequence. Deliberate harm is the goal. My capacity to believe everyone has some redeeming quality was sorely tested, but I will spare you the dark and bitter thoughts that arose.

Today is a little better. I made calls (again) and again found that taking action, any positive and tangible action, serves as an antidote. The people committed to cruelty and harm may never recover their humanity, but I refuse to give up my own. I will continue to push for something kinder, more just, more humane, and always more democratic. I will make good trouble.

6/26/2025: The unimaginable has become somehow commonplace. Of course the unhinged person-in-charge bombs another country because of something he saw on TV. Of course masked police kidnap citizens and noncitizens without identifying themselves or following the law, backed by members of our military who believed, falsely apparently, that they would never be asked to turn against their own people. Of course the Supreme Court makes rulings lacking in logic, compassion, legal precedent, and any hint of constitutional basis. Of course public statements from leadership read like they should be scratched on the walls of a high school bathroom. 

I aim to share how I am navigating this nightmare, and one is that I will never accept this. I will never stop expecting people in power to behave responsibly, speak with courtesy, provide accurate information rather than lies and propaganda, and pursue policies that are ethical, compassionate, and just.

They want us to see chaos, cruelty, and buffoonery as normal. We won’t.

6/18/2025: Recent events have been unbearable, but taking part in the local march/rally on Saturday helped. It reminded me of this idea: progress is a process, not an endpoint. As someone committed to democracy and justice grounded in compassion, I remind myself these goals never go away, the work is always the work. When things are going well? Show up and do the work. When things are going wrong? Show up and do the work. Rinse and repeat. (And sometimes curl up with a good book and recharge—that helps, too).

6/11/2025: Every week, sometimes every day, I try to take some kind of action because I’m worried about my country and world. Frequently, that involves calling my Senators to oppose the reconciliation budget. Recently, the young person who answered the phone fervently pledged to advocate for me, which was new (the politicians representing my region/state appear to be mostly fine with policies that are cruel and destructive). Was he mocking me? It doesn’t matter. Calling is a form of nonviolent resistance. And I did feel better afterwards. A few resources I find helpful—national 5calls.org and regional/state blowingrockpersisters.com

Earlier blog posts