Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Heather Cox Richardson’s latest

“Socialism — it starts with democracy”: so says a Republican candidate for governor of Michigan. Today’s installment of Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American is a must-read.

comments: 3

Chris said...

Yes, democracy is such a starter drug. Once you let "those people" have the vote you never know what they'll expect next. The right to privacy, perhaps?

It's not unheard-of even today for politicians on the right to suggest that the franchise should be limited to those who own property. We haven't progressed much in 250 years.

Michael Leddy said...

Funny you should say “those people”: one of my best teachers in high school, Albert Kornblit, always warned us against the people who talk in those terms — “those people,” “they,” “them.”

I’ll never forget walking out of a store in downstate Illinois, and the woman exiting behind us said to Elaine, “They’re everywhere.” There’d been a Black person in the checkout line. Unfortunately, Elaine was too shocked to reply.

Michael Leddy said...

I checked with Elaine: she says that the reason she didn’t say anything is that she had no idea what the woman meant.