Our Civic Superpowers
Woody Guthrie was famous for displaying the statement “this machine kills fascists” on his guitars. But lest anyone interpret that sentiment as him wanting to literally kill fascists, please rest assured. I’m quite certain he was referring to the stories, joy, and camaraderie shared via his music being enough to squelch anyone’s perceived need to support authoritarianism. With a nod to old Woody, I was thinking of titling this post “These Tools Kill Fascism.” However, I do try to stay away from any connotations of violence in my speech. Consider then what follows to be a description of our civic superpowers. Mural of Woody Guthrie at the Woody Guthrie Center Attention: Our attention is our most precious thing. What we give it to becomes us. This has always been true, but in these days of “shock and awe” we need to be especially mindful of the news, entertainment, and media we attend to. Each new day brings with it some appalling new action, outrageous statement, or destruct...