Hey, folks – fair warning, this is a long email.

You won’t be surprised to learn I have a lot to say on this subject.

If you’re in a rush, or if reading a thesis about the 2024 election sounds about as interesting as watching paint dry, here’s your chance to duck out early (but consider chipping in a buck or two before you go. Early investments make the biggest impact.)

Welp, this election has forced us to face some hard, uncomfortable truths about who we are.

I get it: It's painful to admit that reactionary ideas are popular. That you can explicitly campaign on fear, intolerance, and vengeance and win.

So, what to do? Should we listen to the pundits and reject anything “controversial” because it’ll help us win an election? Should we abandon immigrants, LGBTQ+ Americans, or whichever group MAGA chooses to target next?

Short answer: No. True leaders don't abandon what's right for what's popular.

Every generation of Americans who fought for greater opportunity, liberty, and equality had to contend with the same reactionary forces Donald Trump has unleashed, because the fiercest opposition to progress has always come from those who benefit from the status quo.

(Just look at all the big, powerful CEOs cowering in fear at Donald Trump, ready to bow to a tyrant as long as he cuts their taxes.)

The brave men and women who won our independence, defeated the Confederacy, delivered rights to women, dismantled Jim Crow, struggled for worker’s rights, and toppled marriage inequality didn’t take on those challenges because it was easy or safe.

They did it because they believed in the boundless potential and extraordinary promise of America. That the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

So instead of waving the white flag, let’s accept their torch. Because I still believe in us, and I hope you do too.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, friend. I’ll leave you with a couple of quotes that gave me some much-needed perspective these last few weeks.

"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." (de Tocqueville)

"The best friend of a nation is he who most faithfully rebukes her for her sins—and he her worst enemy who, under the specious… garb of patriotism seeks to excuse, palliate or defend them." (Douglass)

"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." (Paine)

Yours,
Sean Casten