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  1. americanpurpose.comKatherine C. Epstein3/26/2150 min
    6 reads8 comments
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    americanpurpose.com
    6 reads
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    • elioty3 years ago

      I loved every. single. word. 50 minutes felt like 5. Now if only I could condense its entirety into a meme and make it go viral so every American human could reflect on it.

      And: ReadUp, I love you. I don’t know how I’d ever have come across a piece like this without your humanistic, algorithmic magic.

      • DellwoodBarker3 years ago

        Elioty, I apologize for asking a personal request here but I am failing at other attempts lately. I met your Really Amazing and Kind massage therapist friend Alex/Alexander at Bill’s cookout and he knew me from SnowMansion. Could I possibly get his contact info for scheduling a massage appt with him? My body is In Dire Need between dancing and other extraneous activity as well as stress. Hope you read this. Feel free to email me the info jowensster@gmail.com or text me 575-224-0424. Thank you E! Great meeting you and your fam that hot, exhausting day. I Was Fully Depleted.

      • jeff3 years ago

        50 minutes felt like 5.

        This really is magic isn't it? I wasn't looking for a long read at all, figured I'd just read a few paragraphs and maybe star it for later. But I got sucked in and read it all in one go, effortlessly. It's like being sucked into a reading wormhole.

        I've experienced this with all different genres of writing. It's always good writing of course, but all good writing isn't so enjoyable/easy to read. This article is a great example because it's actually pretty dense but somehow can be absorbed at warp speed. Wonder if there's some way to actually quantify that quality!

      • Pegeen
        Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
        3 years ago

        I so agree!

    • Pegeen
      Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
      3 years ago

      “A hallmark of maturity, in both person and nation, is the willingness to live with moral complexity. When we build walls among ourselves for fear of moral contamination, should we be surprised that we elect a president whose signature issue is a wall? Our ability to accept moral complexity in others is tied to our ability to accept it in ourselves. An inability to accept it in ourselves, is tied to an inability to accept it in others.” I felt deliriously drunk on sanity while reading this. What a start to my day! A MUST read for all. Praise be for Readup!

    • jeff3 years ago

      What if just by thinking there's an emergency we've managed to create a real emergency?

      This is the best article I've read on the current political culture in the US. Can't recommend it enough. The criticisms of extremism at both ends of the political spectrum are totally spot-on.

    • DellwoodBarker3 years ago

      55 minute read that is worth every minute. I feel this read reflects what makes ReadUp so special. Independent thinking that bridges balancing and centering architectural integrity in constructive beams of support for the cracks in the rumbling extremism povs.

      This article asks excellent questions:

      If we engage with the world primarily through our race, gender, and sexuality, how can we engage with it as fully human Americans? If we turn to experts to solve our bitterest disagreements, how are we a democracy? If our history is all oppression, all the time, why do we want to be American, and why should we hope for a better future?

      This article makes incredible observations:

      A prerequisite for getting off our current path is to understand that we chose to get on it in the first place. So much of what ails us is self-inflicted. We feel ourselves to be in the grip of macro-forces beyond our control, but they derive their power from millions of micro-choices we made.

      Reminds me of the Classic Radiohead lyric from “Just”:

      “You do it to yourself, you do, and that’s why it really hurts. You do it to yourself, just you and no one else.”

      1. Update (4/1/2021):

        Continued:

        All I know is that when I look at the far Right and the far Left, I think, I don’t want to be governed by any of these people.

        Having just viewed a TedTalk on Original Thinkers and the concept of “vuja de” (looking at something you’ve experienced before and seeing anew) I feel this read qualifies.

        For a long time now when individuals have mentioned meeting in the middle or discovering a middle ground oftentimes those individuals have been called “weak”, “soft” or “too easy”. Now a lot more individuals are waking up to Strength and Bold Innovative Realms found in Creating/Imagining more Centered/Balanced roads less taken. Non-violent communication. Seeking common humanity in the Every Man; be she criminal or saint; be they whatever political affiliation; be he a clean or dirty past; villain or superhero.

        There is a lot of Gold Here in this read.