postscripts

Labor Day 2025

Happy Labor Day!  Well, we're here - Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer.  There's still a lot of beautiful weather ahead.  I thought you might enjoy some old WITW posts and some new posts from the web as we ease out of summer and into fall.

What in the World? - Rolling Stones - I'd forgotten how bluesy some of the Stones' early songs were.  Their music is timeless.

What in the World? - Random and Sundry - A collection of very short, light pieces written during the second half of 2024.  I had fun re-reading them these many months after I posted them.

World Peace Day (aka International Day of Peace) is September 21.  If you can't find an event near you, you can still join the "Peace Wave" - a moment of silence at noon in all time zones on Sunday Sep 21 to reflect on how important peace is in our lives and in our world. International Day of Peace   A good, if symbolic, antidote to the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

A post at Mother Jones relates futurist Tracy Worlee's reflections on sci-fi writer Octavia Butler's chillingly prophetic Parable of the Sower and its sequel Parable of the Talents.  Community and imagination will get us through these tough times.  "No one should have to travel alone."  - Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower

Finally, a Labor Day post from AFSC.  As the "big, beautiful bill" effects the greatest transfer of wealth upwards in American history by stripping benefits from the less well-off to provide tax breaks for the wealthiest, AFSC reminds us of the long struggle for worker's rights and economic justice.  4 highlights from AFSC's work for labor rights | American Friends Service Committee

October 2025

Martin Luther King Day 2026

Next Monday, we celebrate the birthday of one of the great heroes of American history, the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.  Due to his efforts and those of many others in the civil rights movement, the United States became a true democracy in the 1960s.  With the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, all Americans were protected in their right to vote, their right to employment, and their right to housing; and racial segregation was prohibited in schools and public accommodations.  

First, though, a warning from Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century: 

"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists." - Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951)

Arendt's warning is uniquely appropriate to the post-truth era, most recently demonstrated in the killing, smearing and attempt at covering up the truth of Renee Good's death in Minneapolis.  It's hard to believe that this is happening in the United States, which is, on paper at least, still a democracy.  It must make us all wonder where this country is going. Perhaps by reflecting on MLK's life, we can find some inspiration and hope to confront the current dark days of untruth, racist and xenophobic rhetoric, and deliberately stoked divisiveness.  

Quotes (MLK)

• Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

• Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Music (U2)

What in the World? - In the name of love - eight live performance music videos from U2, one of the greatest rock & roll bands ever.  Includes their tribute to Martin Luther King - PRIDE, (In the Name of Love).  I never saw U2 in concert so chose only live performances.  They put on quite a show.  Microsoft's CoPilot AI arranged the songs in the order in which U2 might have played them in a concert. 

WITW posts from the archives - Note: If the link does not bring you directly to these older posts, scroll down a couple of pages.

A Hero for the Ages (WITW, Jan 2020) - At the time he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, MLK was the youngest recipient ever to receive it...a look at his "I Have a Dream" speech and some of his most memorable quotes.

The Beloved Community: the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (WITW, May 2020) - For Martin Luther King, the ideal society was the Beloved Community, a term originally coined in the early 20th century by the founder of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.  King's vision was informed by his theological training and by his admiration for the non-violent methods of Mahatma Gandhi.  The Fellowship of Reconciliation was one of the groups I worked with during the Vietnam War years. I didn't realize it at the time but MLK, one of my all-time heroes, had been a member of the group.

Recent items of interest from the web (non-MLK)

Literary Hub » Renee Nicole Good, murdered by ICE, was a prize-winning poet. Here’s that poem.  

On the Streets of Havana, Hope That a Lack of Oil to Steal Staves Off a U.S. Attack, (Drop Site News)

War ‘Back in Vogue’: Pope Leo’s Stark State of the World Address (Letters from Leo)

Miscellany

Readings - short passages from the web and recent works (last updated Jan 11, 2026)

Useful Link - A Calendar of Wisdom: Leo Tolstoy - if you'd like a daily dose of wisdom