What Are You Fighting For? (redux)

A Saturday Prompt

(Photo by FG Trade Latin)

This Saturday Prompt was originally published on Jan. 4, 2025, in that fraught period when we were facing the reality that Donald Trump would soon be retaking the levers of power after the 2024 election. Much like my resharing “Hope Is A Discipline” yesterday, the task is to not just grapple with what you are against, but also what you are fighting for—what future you are seeking to attain.

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Yes, there will be tough and tumultuous days ahead. I intend to engage them, assess them and provide the most honest and useful response that I can. This is my task, indeed our task, as we sort through the most constructive ways to confront the ugly and chaotic efforts to dismantle our democracy.

But it’s exactly this reality that motivates me to focus today on the side of goodness—to linger in the realm of light and reason. Put more concretely, it’s important amid the fight that we don’t lose sight of what we’re fighting for. If we’re combatting the ravages of mass deportation, for example, let’s also remember the value of diversity, how immigration has created America and the yearnings of millions of immigrants who have risked everything for a better life.

When we’re addressing the myriad ways this regime will seek vengeance, let’s remember what real justice looks like. Count me grateful for the determination of President Ulysses S. Grant, for example, and the formation of a Department of Justice in 1870 with the priority of combatting the Ku Klux Klan’s murderous reign of terror dressed up as vigilante justice.

So I hope you will share here your ideas about the country we love. To get beyond for a moment the current conflict and cruelty and consider what it is that you think is worth saving or repairing—and why. We are at an inflection point that may make this discussion harder and harder, particularly if the body politic grows darker and darker. That’s why documenting what we love about America—some of which is or will be under threat of survival—is especially important.

I’d suggest this list of love can be seen as an act of opposition. Remembering is part of the saving. By spotlighting what we value, we assert the difference between right and wrong, between the good and the bad, between the decent and the cruel.

I was in Philadelphia for a few days over the holidays. I was reminded of the many extraordinary achievements of Benjamin Franklin, including the invention of the lighting rod to conduct electricity and the Franklin Stove to make cooking safer and more efficient. But I was also reminded that he co-founded the Union Fire Company in 1736, the first formally organized volunteer fire company in the colonies. While there were already Boston Mutual Fire Societies that protected their members, Franklin’s life-saving concept served the whole community. That’s the spirit, Dr. Franklin!

So what do you love about America—and what are you fighting for? This can be as specific as a place or a thing or a person. But it also might be a broader notion about a value or principle such as equality, compassion, justice—or the right to engage in debate and voice our opposition. [Note: This becomes even more important in the wake of the Republican-majority Senate disgracefully confirming today as attorney general Todd Blanche, the Trump henchman driving the Epstein files coverup and destroying the Justice Department’s independence.] hope we can fill up this comment section with our ideas and observations.

As always, I look forward to reading your responses and for the opportunity of this community to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy and get involved. Most of my posts are free, but paid subscribers—$50 for a year or just $5 per month—get full access to the comments section, exclusive online chats and live video forums with me and occasional guests.