We must preserve values that made nation great
Reid Beveridge ("Progressives showing classic symptoms of grief," March 21) has given us a classic (and somewhat amusing) example of the logical fallacy, "false or mistaken analogy." He draws on Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's groundbreaking 1969 book, "On Death and Dying," to describe stages of Progressives' response to last November's election. That analogy prompts an obvious question: who died? Could it possibly be American Constitutional Democracy whose passing is so widely mourned? It's obviously not the Progressive Spirit - given Mr. Beveridge's observation that there are active Progressives everywhere (and it's not only Progressives who oppose Mr. Trump's initiatives, nor only Democrats).
The analogy fails because a death is final and irrevocable; there's nothing to be done. A more apt analogy for our present situation is how people respond to a catastrophe: a devastating hurricane, for instance, or - even more aptly in the present case - a ruinous attack by a foreign agency like the Nazi bombing of London in the fall of 1940, or even the 9-11 destruction of the World Trade Center.
Yes, the first stages are parallel to grief - denial, anger...but then instead of resignation (Kubler-Ross's fourth stage) there is resolution, and instead of acceptance, action and resistance.
Concern about Russian interference in the November election is not merely an exercise in denial; it is a concern that should be shared by all, not only Progressives, for the integrity of American democracy.
Concern about the narrow election margins in Michigan and Wisconsin - and Ohio and Pennsylvania for that matter - is not merely a blame game played by Progressives; it is a concern that should be shared by all because voter suppression - fanned by unsubstantiated fears of vote fraud - undercuts the bedrock of our democracy.
Objection to policies prejudicial to women or to racial or religious minorities is not merely a tantrum of the ACLU; it is a responsibility of every American citizen who is dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal.
To return to Mr. Beveridge's opinion, if he is asking Americans to be resigned and accepting in the face of what is happening now, then he is asking us to play dead, or at least to play as if our great nation is dead.
No, thank you. We are very much alive.
The vibrant life of this great nation is manifest in the movements, the legal actions, the stands of political leaders (even a few Republicans of integrity) who push past the distractions of Mr. Trump's tweets and vapid articles like Mr. Beveridge's in order to preserve and defend the values that have made this nation great.
Our greatness lies in hope, not fear; in equality, not oligarchy; in justice, not discrimination; in truth, not "alternative facts;" and, yes, in love, not hate. In this Secretary Clinton was right: we are stronger together.
Leonard Bowman
Millsboro
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