Dispatches from the Inauguration Front

As the protests continue, all I can do is collect documents and pictures — happily, my son sent a few from the inauguration so I could feel the good energy by extension. Not that I ever did much more than this after exiting my twenties. Still, while being relegated to the physical sidelines is hard, accepting that one’s children have the urge for action makes one proud. Yet it’s also hard to wait, hoping that no serious physical harm comes to him, and that he will be disciplined enough to engage in non-violence. Violence begets violence. Clearly Trump’s election is causing violence as I write this, but that is not the point. Protest is more effective, and harder to criticize through persistence and presence, without violence. Take your pick of philosophies from Hegel to Gandhi — it’s all hard. But who said changing the world was supposed to be easy?