People are weary. Most of us are simply trying to make it through another day. Solving the world’s problems is better left to others and the more influential. If a rich and powerful man can do it, let him. Just make my life easier, safer, and happier. 

Be careful what you wish for.

Education, healthcare, expanded childcare, retirement, food production and distribution, oil and gas, water, functioning roadways, sanitation, public safety, and disaster relief are just a few of the most common ways a functioning and growing nation has served its people. Federally and at the state and local levels, our collective tax dollars are serving American families every day. Imperfect, cumbersome, and depersonalized from our hyper-consumerist experiences, without these programs and the people employed to administer them, the weariness and struggle will only increase.

Costs of food and everyday goods are rising. Schools are closing. Commutes are getting longer. Healthcare costs are increasing while access becomes more difficult. Homelessness is increasing. Substance abuse is climbing. Social services are collapsing. Compensations are not keeping pace. Layoffs are expanding. And retirement is less secure. Unless you are independently wealthy (the majority are not), the pressure is rising on you, too.

As it turns out, we rely on shared programs that support our general welfare more than we think.

This is not the time to give up on each other or our investment in public services. While those calling the shots are dismantling or restricting vital services for the masses, the rest continue to suffer from a growing class divide. The attempt to convince people their success and happiness are at risk because of criminals, illegal immigrants, liberal idealogy, or scientific and academic research simply doesn’t hold water. Humanity has evolved and advanced up to this point in history because we’ve progressed—not regressed—when new challenges have emerged.

Hope is built on solutions that progressively improve and sustain our collective existence. Valuing competition, superiority, and privilege will always fall short of creating a better tomorrow. When our love grows cold, we degrade into classes of “us versus them,” which incites resentment and apathy. Instead, progress chooses to see and believe the best in each other. 

Progress seeks to solve the pressing issues of society. It strives to cultivate the conditions for a sustainable future that benefits everyone. It’s the value that upholds a functioning, healthy, and always evolving democracy that has inspired hope for generations. Progress creates and supports the social systems and programs relied upon by millions in ways mostly unseen. But every day since January 20, 2025, progress has been systematically undermined to benefit the few over the many.

This is the time when we need each other. The poor are at risk of becoming poorer, while the wealthy are growing more distant from the everyday experience of society. The government, already plagued with dysfunction, is consolidating itself like a corporate merger that lays hardworking people off and ruins lives, communities, and economic growth in the name of efficiency and profits.

Now is not the time to give up. Don’t let your love grow cold. We must refine our weariness into the fuel that ignites our hopes and dreams. Truth and compassion for each other will change the world.