For the Last American Century
First, they didn’t let me on the moon. Then didn’t let anyone
after a while. So children let their dreams get smaller, enough
to fit the pocket of the jean jackets each generation wore
every time they invented irony. Soon, in the cities, down
in their white noise canyons, people got on with the getting on.
Looked at their feet, mostly. Or they practiced glancing
slightly away when eyes met accidentally on the train.
Like shoes under a table. Like sheep bumbling a mountain pass.
The trick, we learned, was to pretend you’ve always been
looking just over your stranger’s left shoulder, reading
for the thousandth time that list of things you’re not allowed,
hoping there might be a prize in it. People got used to doing less
with less. Hoarded their sorrys. People learned something
happens to an old friendship when one visits the other’s city
but doesn’t give notice. There are reasons for this, always.
Business to attend to. Kids in their ironic jackets to shepherd
someplace new. I used to think the moon lived west of the earth,
which was why you’d see it after the sun went down. I studied
the scriptures. Became convinced that’s where they hid Eden
from us. This was back when I too believed in big punishment
for small mistakes. Then I saw the moon forget itself
in the day’s sky as if waiting, like the rest of us, for an apology.
Sustain independent journalism that will not back down!
Donald Trump wants us to accept the current state of affairs without making a scene. He wants us to believe that if we resist, he will harass us, sue us, and cut funding for those we care about; he may sic ICE, the FBI, or the National Guard on us.
We’re sorry to disappoint, but the fact is this: The Nation won’t back down to an authoritarian regime. Not now, not ever.
Day after day, week after week, we will continue to publish truly independent journalism that exposes the Trump administration for what it is and develops ways to gum up its machinery of repression.
We do this through exceptional coverage of war and peace, the labor movement, the climate emergency, reproductive justice, AI, corruption, crypto, and much more.
Our award-winning writers, including Elie Mystal, Mohammed Mhawish, Chris Lehmann, Joan Walsh, John Nichols, Jeet Heer, Kate Wagner, Kaveh Akbar, John Ganz, Zephyr Teachout, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Kali Holloway, Gregg Gonsalves, Amy Littlefield, Michael T. Klare, and Dave Zirin, instigate ideas and fuel progressive movements across the country.
With no corporate interests or billionaire owners behind us, we need your help to fund this journalism. The most powerful way you can contribute is with a recurring donation that lets us know you’re behind us for the long fight ahead.
We need to add 100 new sustaining donors to The Nation this September. If you step up with a monthly contribution of $10 or more, you’ll receive a one-of-a-kind Nation pin to recognize your invaluable support for the free press.
Onward,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation
