Hope Dies Last

[acmavm]

By Studs Terkel | 1.2.04

http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=512_0_1_0_C

<snip>

Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up. That’s what Jessie de la Cruz meant when she said, “I feel there’s gonna be a change, but we’re the ones gonna do it, not the government. With us, there’s a saying, ‘La esperanza muere ultima. Hope dies last.’ You can’t lose hope. If you lose hope, you lose everything.”

<snip>

Hope appears to be an American attribute that has vanished for many, no matter what their class or condition of life. The official word has never been more arrogantly imposed. Passivity, in the face of such a bold, unabashed show of power from above, appears to be the order of the day. But it ain’t necessarily so.

<snip>

Pete Seeger is a folksinger whose most recent album, Pete Seeger and Friends, was just nominated for a Grammy:

I tell people I think we have a 50-50 chance for there to be a human race here in a hundred years. They think that’s being pessimistic. No, I say, that’s being optimistic, because it implies that one of us might be the grain of sand that will tip the scales in the right direction. Imagine that there’s a big seesaw. At one end of it is a basket half full of rocks. That end is on the ground. At the other end is a basket one-quarter full of sand. And a bunch of us with teaspoons, we’re trying to put sand in that end. A lot of people laugh at us, they say “ Oh, don’t you see, it’s leaking out as fast as you’re putting it in.” Well, we say, “It’s leaking out, but we’re getting more people with teaspoons all the time. One of these days, you’re gonna see that whole basket with sand so full that this seesaw is going to go zoooom-up in the other direction.” And people will say, “Gee, how did it happen so quickly?” Us and our damned little teaspoons.

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I highly recommend this article. It's for everyone who belongs to DU who thinks that we don't have a chance against Bush*. It's for everyone who get a case of depression and forms the silly, stupid idea that working for change is not worth the effort. It's an article the defines the human condition and how the value of one's life can be measured. Enjoy.

[travisleit01]

1. Nice article Acmavm

La esperanza muere ultima. Good to remember in times like these.

[UrbScotty]

2. What did Jesse Jackson say about Hope?

"KEEP HOPE ALIVE!"

Nice article, although I do think humanity has a better than 50-50 chance of surviving through 2104.

[latebloomer]

3. Thanks!

I needed that!

[Kat45]

4. Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul --

Emily Dickinson