One Good Thing/Pre-election amuse-bouche
Molly Ivins' timeless advice
Dear Readers: I feel lucky to have spent at least part of this life on the planet at the same time as the legendary writer, wit, and audacious Texan — Molly Ivins.
Molly Ivins’ life, career and influence has been too monumental to boil down — or even describe, really, but there is a very good hour-long documentary about her that I am linking below. I highly recommend it.
To watch “Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins,” …
Tonight, less than a week before a consequential election that has upset and inspired a lot of folks to activism and some bouts of deep depression, not to mention fantasies of fisticuffs, I’m sharing a column Molly Ivins wrote in 1993. Like much of her work, this proved to be prescient, as well as prescriptive.
Her message? Stop acting so scared! Behave according to your conscience. But don’t forget to find joy in your activism, because you might not win. If you manage to enjoy the fight, you will persist to win another day.
“THE FUN’S IN THE FIGHT!”
Even when you can’t kick the bad guys where it hurts, you can still have a real gas trying
By Molly Ivins
1993
The essay starts:
“Austin, Texas–I’ve been talkin’ to a bunch of the fun-lovin’ freedom-fighters of Texas lately, and we all agree that there’s one thing we need to pass on to all of y’all from the few of us before I take a leave from these pages. (I’m takin’ a leave of absence on account of I have to write a book, and time has become both scant and precious.)
The thing is this: You got to have fun while you’re fightin’ for freedom, ’cause you don’t always win.
After a few paragraphs of very colorful storytelling, she quotes an anecdote from her friend the Texan folklorist Johnny Faulk, who points out that when we humans act or react out of fear, we often end up hurting ourselves.
She continues:
… “And isn’t that what we keep doing in this country, over and over again? We get scared so bad–about the communist menace or illegal immigration or AIDS or pornography or violent crime, some damn scary thing–that we hurt ourselves. We take the odd notion that the only way to protect ourselves is to give up some of our freedom–just trim a little, hedge a bit, and we’ll all be safe after all.”
…“Those who think of freedom in this country as one long, broad path leading ever onward and upward are dead damned wrong. Many a time freedom has been rolled back–and always for the same sorry reason: fear.
“So one thing I have learned from Johnny Faulk, Texas, and life, is that since you don’t always win, you got to learn to enjoy just fightin’ the good fight.”
To read the entire essay in Mother Jones:
Tomorrow is Halloween, one of my FAVORITE nights of the year. I hope we all can confront our fears, consume our treats judiciously, and HAVE FUN.
LOVE,
Amy
A dear friend of mine has just ended a lifelong friendship due to the absolute wackiness of her never-ending conspiracy theories and outright lies. So sad. As former Secretary of Defense James Mattis said, "Trump is the only president in my lifetime who has never tried to unite the American people." We are now divided, perhaps forever. All for one man's ego. Very sad.
Molly Ivins is one of my heros. I haven't read her or thought about her in a long while. Now's a good time for a strong dose of her. Thank you.