The Planetary Currents

The Planetary Currents

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We live on the third rock from the sun
In our living rooms
We handle the remote and touch off integrated circuits compelling
              content, non-integrated circuits such as the chitlin’ circuit, and
              disintegrated circuits such as the extended family now stretched
              across six continents
Plus one under ice
The rapid flows of global capital
Put us to sleep and wake us
We come on in on a wing and a come on
We slide right across the ice
We stop to catch up, so like a breathing tree

Instead of reading about the unconscious we decide to enter it, that is, by
              falling asleep
Dream of a document signed by CEO William K. Tasker by which we are
              offered a position as director of corporate communications for a
              company called Correct
We are romantics still, who stand and/or sit in shade
Looking straight down to the valley floor
Vertiginous, lofty, cerebral, lazy and tight
This poem may be recorded for quality assurance purposes
There we encounter planets whose colors we shall not forget

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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