Thank you, as always. So, I want to tell you what happened yesterday. I live in NH, which, you may know has several forms of voting for local issues. Our town is called an SB2 town after Senate Bill 2 which means we have 2 "town meetings" (well 3 actually), the first is called a deliberative session where the voters deliberate on the warrant articles that relate to the town's budget. Each article is discussed and potentially amended. Once that meeting is held, the following month, the voters go to the polls and vote. Deliberative sessions are held on 2 different budgets, the "town side" which is the town's administration discussion (police, fire, public works, etc.) and the "school side". Yesterday was the town side session. Last year, it went on for over 7 hours as nay-sayers stood up and questioned every budget item. They asked which budget committee or council member voted "no" on each article (over 20 articles). They tried to amend every article to either lessen or zero out budgets (many of the articles are about putting $$ aside for future expenditures, a savings plan, if you will, for major infrastructure costs). This year, people listened, people asked legitimate questions, and when one audience member tried to get testy and when one council member insulted the public works department, the audience had none of it. The session lasted 4 hours (21 articles), and even in tough economic times, the members agreed that the expenditures are necessary and NO article was amended or zeroed out. It was a very different feel from last year's contentious meeting, and I am more hopeful that people see the need for services and understand that town workers deserve appropriate pay and benefits. We'll see what that school side looks like. Last year, voters voted down the article to repair a school roof which is failing. I am hopeful that this year, intellect will prevail.
Roberta, thank you for taking the time to share this...it’s a REALLY important observation.
What you described is belief reappearing in behavior...not rhetoric. Not louder speeches or grand declarations...but people staying present...listening...and REFUSING to let cynicism dominate the room.
That’s the kind of shift that doesn’t make headlines...but...actually changes outcomes.
What stands out most is the contrast with last year. Same structure. Same process. Many of the same pressures. BUT... a different collective posture...less performative opposition... more seriousness about stewardship and responsibility.
That’s not accidental. It’s what happens when people stop treating institutions as abstract enemies...and start treating them as shared obligations again.
And...you’re right to connect this to belief. Not belief as optimism...but belief that participation still matters...that services are real...that workers are human...that future costs don’t disappear just because we refuse to plan for them.
Whether the school side follows suit or not...what you witnessed on the town side is a reminder of something easy to forget: belief doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it just looks like fewer people standing up to sabotage the process....and more people willing to carry it forward....ANYWAY.
That’s not naïve hope. That’s civic muscle memory...slowly coming back online.
Thank you so much for putting this into focus. I knew it felt different, it sounded different. I'll let you know how the school side goes. #HoldingFast
Civic muscle memory. A new term to me but it seems profoundly important. Perhaps at some point you could write more about this, and ask for more examples. Thank you.
Excellent observation. Last year the naysayers were buoyed by Trump's apparent success, this year they see Trump for what he is and are taking action. Well done to the people in your town!
Pamela, “Looking forward” felt stabilizing in the moment...but it quietly taught a deeper lesson: that belief wasn’t something to be protected once it became inconvenient.
For a lot of people...that’s when faith in accountability...and in consequences...started to erode.
You’re not alone in marking that moment. Not at all. It’s one of those inflection points that only becomes obvious in hindsight...but once you see it...it’s hard to unsee.
I have not given up. Reading you has kept me believing that we Americans are stronger than them and the images of people protesting peacefully just cements my belief in us as a country. I feel drumpf and company are making too many mistakes.
Teri, thank you for saying this. It matters...more than you might realize.
What you’re describing isn’t blind confidence...it’s pattern recognition.
Movements that overreach...govern by grievance...and mistake noise for consent almost always start making unforced errors once they assume inevitability. That’s not hope talking...that’s HISTORY.
The images you mention matter too. Peaceful protest isn’t about spectacle...it’s about legitimacy.
It’s a signal that people haven’t withdrawn...haven’t normalized what shouldn’t be normal... and haven’t surrendered the idea of a shared future.
Not giving up isn’t passive. It’s a DECISION to stay oriented...to keep distinguishing strength from chaos...and to refuse the story that says endurance is weakness.
HOLDFAST isn’t a slogan. It’s a posture. And YOU...are clearly still in it!
Look, I've had a tough life, and throughout it all, sometimes the ONLY thing that got me through was belief. So, I will never allow myself to believe that belief, itself, is futile.
Jill Branch, that’s a hard-earned truth...and it shows!
When someone has actually lived through enough to know that belief wasn’t a comfort... but a lifeline...they don’t treat it lightly or romantically. They understand it as a survival skill.
Not something you adopt because it feels good...but something you hold onto...because letting go would have meant not making it through.
You’re right to draw that line for yourself. Saying belief is futile is often just another way of surrendering...after the cost has ALREADY been paid.
For people who’ve had to rely on belief...when there was nothing else...that’s not an option...and it shouldn’t be.
What you’re naming is EXACTLY what the article is about: belief as the thing that carries you through...when evidence runs out. That kind of belief isn’t fragile. It’s FORGED.
During The Blitz, it looked like the British were goners. But they weren’t. After a bombing, they cleaned up the best they could, navigated the rubble, and carried on. They refused to give up and participate in their own destruction. We are under a different form of attack, but we should take the lesson.
What mattered during the Blitz wasn’t that people believed victory was guaranteed...it was that they refused to cooperate...with the LOGIC of defeat.
They kept showing up to work...clearing rubble...reopening shops...living their lives. That daily refusal to internalize destruction...turned endurance into strategy.
And...you’re right...the form of attack is different now...but...the lesson holds. The danger isn’t just what’s happening to us... it’s what happens INSIDE us...if we start participating in our own unraveling.
Staying engaged...carrying on...and refusing that internal surrender...is often the decisive act!
Wayne...yeah, that was a sobering thing to see...and what they're doing with what they collected...will no doubt be as corrupt as what we've see from them up to this point.
Yes, Bryan. I think Renee Nicole Good shocked and stunned the country...and we were still trying to metabolize it. Then Alex Pretti’s killing lit the proverbial match...shook people out of the numbness...and forced a wider reckoning. I suspect history will mark that sequence as a real pivot point.
I wondered if belief still mattered today on a live subscriber Q&A. The host was encouraging to stay strong and had optimism that our 250 years would prevail. I said to him on the call my pessimism is taking over. The Epstein release and the administration’s comments were the final straw in my belief that the survivors would see justice and we the people would also see evil fail. Honestly, and I’m sorry that I am weak today but believing we will conquer over this fascist regime is disappearing.
The moment I started wondering whether belief still mattered was when I recognized that people I know have abandoned objective fact and reliable sources of information and that we live in parallel realities.
___ I have never wondered IF belief still mattered. I have never stopped believing. However, I have worried that the culture in the United States is comprised of too many people who have no clear understanding of history, and a willing suspension of disbelief while claiming, “That won’t happen HERE.” It. Is. Happening.
After a slow read, I wipe the tears that pool in my eyes, and I realize I know this feeling. It's not sadness. It is grace. It walks with belief and faith. After 71 trips around the sun, I recognize my old friends, GRACE, BELIEF and FAITH. They buoy me when change comes. Change will always come. But, tomorrow always seems to be better than ever imagined. I no longer fear change. I look for the gift it will become.
Thank you Jack Hopkins, for being a gift to me, especially today...this moment.
If you define your situation as "hopeless" then, barring an actual miracle, *it can never be anything else.* I guess that's why my personal mantra, established through the years, as been ---> "This isn't over until I QUIT." (Can't count how many times that alone has pulled me through some scrapes I still shudder to remember, even now.)
This isn't over until WE QUIT. & I'm nowhere close to that!! Can't even envision a scenario where I would.
Thank you, as always. So, I want to tell you what happened yesterday. I live in NH, which, you may know has several forms of voting for local issues. Our town is called an SB2 town after Senate Bill 2 which means we have 2 "town meetings" (well 3 actually), the first is called a deliberative session where the voters deliberate on the warrant articles that relate to the town's budget. Each article is discussed and potentially amended. Once that meeting is held, the following month, the voters go to the polls and vote. Deliberative sessions are held on 2 different budgets, the "town side" which is the town's administration discussion (police, fire, public works, etc.) and the "school side". Yesterday was the town side session. Last year, it went on for over 7 hours as nay-sayers stood up and questioned every budget item. They asked which budget committee or council member voted "no" on each article (over 20 articles). They tried to amend every article to either lessen or zero out budgets (many of the articles are about putting $$ aside for future expenditures, a savings plan, if you will, for major infrastructure costs). This year, people listened, people asked legitimate questions, and when one audience member tried to get testy and when one council member insulted the public works department, the audience had none of it. The session lasted 4 hours (21 articles), and even in tough economic times, the members agreed that the expenditures are necessary and NO article was amended or zeroed out. It was a very different feel from last year's contentious meeting, and I am more hopeful that people see the need for services and understand that town workers deserve appropriate pay and benefits. We'll see what that school side looks like. Last year, voters voted down the article to repair a school roof which is failing. I am hopeful that this year, intellect will prevail.
Roberta, thank you for taking the time to share this...it’s a REALLY important observation.
What you described is belief reappearing in behavior...not rhetoric. Not louder speeches or grand declarations...but people staying present...listening...and REFUSING to let cynicism dominate the room.
That’s the kind of shift that doesn’t make headlines...but...actually changes outcomes.
What stands out most is the contrast with last year. Same structure. Same process. Many of the same pressures. BUT... a different collective posture...less performative opposition... more seriousness about stewardship and responsibility.
That’s not accidental. It’s what happens when people stop treating institutions as abstract enemies...and start treating them as shared obligations again.
And...you’re right to connect this to belief. Not belief as optimism...but belief that participation still matters...that services are real...that workers are human...that future costs don’t disappear just because we refuse to plan for them.
Whether the school side follows suit or not...what you witnessed on the town side is a reminder of something easy to forget: belief doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it just looks like fewer people standing up to sabotage the process....and more people willing to carry it forward....ANYWAY.
That’s not naïve hope. That’s civic muscle memory...slowly coming back online.
-Jack
Thank you so much for putting this into focus. I knew it felt different, it sounded different. I'll let you know how the school side goes. #HoldingFast
Civic muscle memory. A new term to me but it seems profoundly important. Perhaps at some point you could write more about this, and ask for more examples. Thank you.
Excellent observation. Last year the naysayers were buoyed by Trump's apparent success, this year they see Trump for what he is and are taking action. Well done to the people in your town!
Truth, Steven. Truth!
-Jack
Great article! I believe, and I will not stop believing! YES, we can 👊🏿👊🏾👊🏽👊👊🏼👊🏻❤️
Outstanding, Melior Mồm. I like it!
-Jack
The moment I started wondering whether belief still mattered was when Obama chose to “look forward”.
Pamela, “Looking forward” felt stabilizing in the moment...but it quietly taught a deeper lesson: that belief wasn’t something to be protected once it became inconvenient.
For a lot of people...that’s when faith in accountability...and in consequences...started to erode.
You’re not alone in marking that moment. Not at all. It’s one of those inflection points that only becomes obvious in hindsight...but once you see it...it’s hard to unsee.
-Jack
You & me both!!! Oh, God ... you & me BOTH!!!
I have not given up. Reading you has kept me believing that we Americans are stronger than them and the images of people protesting peacefully just cements my belief in us as a country. I feel drumpf and company are making too many mistakes.
#HOLDFAST
Teri
Teri, thank you for saying this. It matters...more than you might realize.
What you’re describing isn’t blind confidence...it’s pattern recognition.
Movements that overreach...govern by grievance...and mistake noise for consent almost always start making unforced errors once they assume inevitability. That’s not hope talking...that’s HISTORY.
The images you mention matter too. Peaceful protest isn’t about spectacle...it’s about legitimacy.
It’s a signal that people haven’t withdrawn...haven’t normalized what shouldn’t be normal... and haven’t surrendered the idea of a shared future.
Not giving up isn’t passive. It’s a DECISION to stay oriented...to keep distinguishing strength from chaos...and to refuse the story that says endurance is weakness.
HOLDFAST isn’t a slogan. It’s a posture. And YOU...are clearly still in it!
-Jack
Thank you
Look, I've had a tough life, and throughout it all, sometimes the ONLY thing that got me through was belief. So, I will never allow myself to believe that belief, itself, is futile.
Jill Branch, that’s a hard-earned truth...and it shows!
When someone has actually lived through enough to know that belief wasn’t a comfort... but a lifeline...they don’t treat it lightly or romantically. They understand it as a survival skill.
Not something you adopt because it feels good...but something you hold onto...because letting go would have meant not making it through.
You’re right to draw that line for yourself. Saying belief is futile is often just another way of surrendering...after the cost has ALREADY been paid.
For people who’ve had to rely on belief...when there was nothing else...that’s not an option...and it shouldn’t be.
What you’re naming is EXACTLY what the article is about: belief as the thing that carries you through...when evidence runs out. That kind of belief isn’t fragile. It’s FORGED.
-Jack
100% in agreement. Tough life here, too, but finally in a good place, and I have never allowed BELIEF to waver.
“The moment I started wondering whether belief still mattered was when _______.”
The Supreme Court gave W Bush the election and Trump immunity.
John Angus Clark, those are two...bone rattling moments. No question about it.
-Jack
When observers & protesters started getting intentionally shot
Bruce, direct, blunt...truthful.
-Jack
During The Blitz, it looked like the British were goners. But they weren’t. After a bombing, they cleaned up the best they could, navigated the rubble, and carried on. They refused to give up and participate in their own destruction. We are under a different form of attack, but we should take the lesson.
Chichi, that’s exactly the right parallel.
What mattered during the Blitz wasn’t that people believed victory was guaranteed...it was that they refused to cooperate...with the LOGIC of defeat.
They kept showing up to work...clearing rubble...reopening shops...living their lives. That daily refusal to internalize destruction...turned endurance into strategy.
And...you’re right...the form of attack is different now...but...the lesson holds. The danger isn’t just what’s happening to us... it’s what happens INSIDE us...if we start participating in our own unraveling.
Staying engaged...carrying on...and refusing that internal surrender...is often the decisive act!
-Jack
Yes, “Carry on!”
#HOLDFAST!
Tell it, Judy!
#HOLDFAST
-Jack
Sorry Jack, I can't complete the sentence because my belief remains unshakable!
Ohhhhh, CLF....you brought a BIG smile to my face:)
-Jack
CLF, I understand since I still believe and intend to keep on believing!
#HOLDFAST!
I like...I LIKE, Judy!
-Jack
Reminds me of a song … REO Speedwagon or maybe Foreigner… “Don't Stop Believing“ …
Journey
My moment was when the FBI stole ballots from Georgia. That’s horrifying.
Wayne...yeah, that was a sobering thing to see...and what they're doing with what they collected...will no doubt be as corrupt as what we've see from them up to this point.
-Jack
When they murdered Alex Pretti.
Yes, Bryan. I think Renee Nicole Good shocked and stunned the country...and we were still trying to metabolize it. Then Alex Pretti’s killing lit the proverbial match...shook people out of the numbness...and forced a wider reckoning. I suspect history will mark that sequence as a real pivot point.
-Jack
I wondered if belief still mattered today on a live subscriber Q&A. The host was encouraging to stay strong and had optimism that our 250 years would prevail. I said to him on the call my pessimism is taking over. The Epstein release and the administration’s comments were the final straw in my belief that the survivors would see justice and we the people would also see evil fail. Honestly, and I’m sorry that I am weak today but believing we will conquer over this fascist regime is disappearing.
This captures a recurring historical hinge point: when belief stops feeling respectable and starts being treated as naïveté.
That is not the end of struggle. It is the moment when outcomes are still undecided, but participation begins to thin.
Authoritarian power depends on that thinning.
Thank you Jack!
#HOLDFAST
Jane...thank YOU.
#HOLDFAST
-Jack
The moment I started wondering whether belief still mattered was when I recognized that people I know have abandoned objective fact and reliable sources of information and that we live in parallel realities.
___ I have never wondered IF belief still mattered. I have never stopped believing. However, I have worried that the culture in the United States is comprised of too many people who have no clear understanding of history, and a willing suspension of disbelief while claiming, “That won’t happen HERE.” It. Is. Happening.
After a slow read, I wipe the tears that pool in my eyes, and I realize I know this feeling. It's not sadness. It is grace. It walks with belief and faith. After 71 trips around the sun, I recognize my old friends, GRACE, BELIEF and FAITH. They buoy me when change comes. Change will always come. But, tomorrow always seems to be better than ever imagined. I no longer fear change. I look for the gift it will become.
Thank you Jack Hopkins, for being a gift to me, especially today...this moment.
If you define your situation as "hopeless" then, barring an actual miracle, *it can never be anything else.* I guess that's why my personal mantra, established through the years, as been ---> "This isn't over until I QUIT." (Can't count how many times that alone has pulled me through some scrapes I still shudder to remember, even now.)
This isn't over until WE QUIT. & I'm nowhere close to that!! Can't even envision a scenario where I would.