Hope is a duty, not a mood.

I care about America and I believe it is a beautiful place worth fighting for.

And in some very profound sense that willingness to fight is what being american is about.

Liberty must be defended at all costs. From all challengers. Even those on our side.

Yet when I try and engage with the current system I feel a profound sense of moral injury.

It’s like the world is breaking my values in front of me. And instead of springing into action, I freeze.

The paralysis comes from the gap between wanting to act meaningfully and feeling that my actions won’t matter enough.

But I will my way through it because history says move anyway. Speak anyway. Help someone anyway. Put one foot in front of the other. Power eventually yields to steady demand.

If my actions feel small, I remember: every right I enjoy began small in someone else’s hands before it was given to me.

So I will not wait for permission. I will not paralyze myself into inaction.

I will just do things.

Because I can.

And so can you.

You can just do things.