A Better World Is Possible: A Father's Day Note
Dear Rosie,
Two days ago you turned ten. Where does the time go?
I vividly remember the feeling of looking at you for the first time the night you were born, on the eve of Father's Day. I sang you a song (Danny Boy) that I'd sung many times into your mommy's belly. You stopped crying and gazed into my eyes with a look of recognition. Like the Grinch, my heart grew three times that day, and nothing has been the same since!
I always tell you how much I love you - more than all the stars, all the grains of sand, all the drops of water in the ocean, to infinity. But words can never quite capture the feeling. Elizabeth Stone said that "making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." That's how it is.
When I see other dads and moms with their kids, I know that they are feeling something similar. From San Francisco to Syria, Indianapolis to Iraq, the love that we parents have for our kids is universal. I've imagined from your first moments about how the collective power of love in the hearts of parents (and grandparents) everywhere could be harnessed to change the world. If we the parents demanded decisions be made with the best interests of all kids in mind, there could be no war, or children dying needlessly of preventable diseases, or inaction on the biggest problem of all -- climate change. Parents united against global warming and global warring.
And yet, when I look around in these last days of your single digit years, I see awful spasms of violence - a mad man with a gun mowing down dozens of uncles, aunts, sons, daughters in Orlando, while bombs are dropped on hospitals tending to injured children in Syria. And I see temperatures and oceans rising, ice sheets melting at an alarming rate, droughts intensifying, wildfires raging, while the presidential candidate Donald Trump says it's all a hoax invented by the Chinese (he really said that, look it up).
Reading the news, a dad could sink into despair. But that would betray the pact I made with myself when we decided to have a child--to stay hopeful that a better world is possible and that I'd do what I could to help bring such a world about. A world that is, in the words of Carl Sagan, "worthy of our children." Your birth, and the birth of each baby, is a vote for hope and determination regardless of appearances in the moment.
That's why I work with Climate Parents, a group of parents and grandparents around the country, taking action to help prevent catastrophic climate change so that we leave you and all kids everywhere a livable planet. And in doing that work every day, I see signs of hope emerging in so many places - the solar panels and wind turbines sprouting up like daffodils in springtime, the coal-fired power plants shutting down, the students suing governments for stronger climate action, the school boards voting to teach students the truth about climate change, the countries of the world agreeing in Paris to keep temperatures from rising to unbearable levels.
We may or may not do enough. Things could go either way. But when you are reading this years from now, by the light of a solar-powered lamp, know that your dad, mom, and millions of others who burned brightly with love for our kids did what we could when we knew the stakes, as we watched our hearts running around--laughing, singing, playing and dreaming of the world to be.
Love forever,
Daddy
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Dear Rosie,
Two days ago you turned ten. Where does the time go?
I vividly remember the feeling of looking at you for the first time the night you were born, on the eve of Father's Day. I sang you a song (Danny Boy) that I'd sung many times into your mommy's belly. You stopped crying and gazed into my eyes with a look of recognition. Like the Grinch, my heart grew three times that day, and nothing has been the same since!
I always tell you how much I love you - more than all the stars, all the grains of sand, all the drops of water in the ocean, to infinity. But words can never quite capture the feeling. Elizabeth Stone said that "making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." That's how it is.
When I see other dads and moms with their kids, I know that they are feeling something similar. From San Francisco to Syria, Indianapolis to Iraq, the love that we parents have for our kids is universal. I've imagined from your first moments about how the collective power of love in the hearts of parents (and grandparents) everywhere could be harnessed to change the world. If we the parents demanded decisions be made with the best interests of all kids in mind, there could be no war, or children dying needlessly of preventable diseases, or inaction on the biggest problem of all -- climate change. Parents united against global warming and global warring.
And yet, when I look around in these last days of your single digit years, I see awful spasms of violence - a mad man with a gun mowing down dozens of uncles, aunts, sons, daughters in Orlando, while bombs are dropped on hospitals tending to injured children in Syria. And I see temperatures and oceans rising, ice sheets melting at an alarming rate, droughts intensifying, wildfires raging, while the presidential candidate Donald Trump says it's all a hoax invented by the Chinese (he really said that, look it up).
Reading the news, a dad could sink into despair. But that would betray the pact I made with myself when we decided to have a child--to stay hopeful that a better world is possible and that I'd do what I could to help bring such a world about. A world that is, in the words of Carl Sagan, "worthy of our children." Your birth, and the birth of each baby, is a vote for hope and determination regardless of appearances in the moment.
That's why I work with Climate Parents, a group of parents and grandparents around the country, taking action to help prevent catastrophic climate change so that we leave you and all kids everywhere a livable planet. And in doing that work every day, I see signs of hope emerging in so many places - the solar panels and wind turbines sprouting up like daffodils in springtime, the coal-fired power plants shutting down, the students suing governments for stronger climate action, the school boards voting to teach students the truth about climate change, the countries of the world agreeing in Paris to keep temperatures from rising to unbearable levels.
We may or may not do enough. Things could go either way. But when you are reading this years from now, by the light of a solar-powered lamp, know that your dad, mom, and millions of others who burned brightly with love for our kids did what we could when we knew the stakes, as we watched our hearts running around--laughing, singing, playing and dreaming of the world to be.
Love forever,
Daddy
Dear Rosie,
Two days ago you turned ten. Where does the time go?
I vividly remember the feeling of looking at you for the first time the night you were born, on the eve of Father's Day. I sang you a song (Danny Boy) that I'd sung many times into your mommy's belly. You stopped crying and gazed into my eyes with a look of recognition. Like the Grinch, my heart grew three times that day, and nothing has been the same since!
I always tell you how much I love you - more than all the stars, all the grains of sand, all the drops of water in the ocean, to infinity. But words can never quite capture the feeling. Elizabeth Stone said that "making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." That's how it is.
When I see other dads and moms with their kids, I know that they are feeling something similar. From San Francisco to Syria, Indianapolis to Iraq, the love that we parents have for our kids is universal. I've imagined from your first moments about how the collective power of love in the hearts of parents (and grandparents) everywhere could be harnessed to change the world. If we the parents demanded decisions be made with the best interests of all kids in mind, there could be no war, or children dying needlessly of preventable diseases, or inaction on the biggest problem of all -- climate change. Parents united against global warming and global warring.
And yet, when I look around in these last days of your single digit years, I see awful spasms of violence - a mad man with a gun mowing down dozens of uncles, aunts, sons, daughters in Orlando, while bombs are dropped on hospitals tending to injured children in Syria. And I see temperatures and oceans rising, ice sheets melting at an alarming rate, droughts intensifying, wildfires raging, while the presidential candidate Donald Trump says it's all a hoax invented by the Chinese (he really said that, look it up).
Reading the news, a dad could sink into despair. But that would betray the pact I made with myself when we decided to have a child--to stay hopeful that a better world is possible and that I'd do what I could to help bring such a world about. A world that is, in the words of Carl Sagan, "worthy of our children." Your birth, and the birth of each baby, is a vote for hope and determination regardless of appearances in the moment.
That's why I work with Climate Parents, a group of parents and grandparents around the country, taking action to help prevent catastrophic climate change so that we leave you and all kids everywhere a livable planet. And in doing that work every day, I see signs of hope emerging in so many places - the solar panels and wind turbines sprouting up like daffodils in springtime, the coal-fired power plants shutting down, the students suing governments for stronger climate action, the school boards voting to teach students the truth about climate change, the countries of the world agreeing in Paris to keep temperatures from rising to unbearable levels.
We may or may not do enough. Things could go either way. But when you are reading this years from now, by the light of a solar-powered lamp, know that your dad, mom, and millions of others who burned brightly with love for our kids did what we could when we knew the stakes, as we watched our hearts running around--laughing, singing, playing and dreaming of the world to be.
Love forever,
Daddy