How We Resist

It is natural to feel overwhelmed

at the destruction we’re facing.

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That’s the point of it all: the

shocking disregard for history,

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the dismantled protections,

moving us back in time

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to indulge the worst of human impulses.

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But this is what Nero was born to do,

born to be. And this is only the beginning.

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All I can do is tell you what I remind

my children, my loved ones, my friends:

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We lean on one another, so we do not despair.

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We actively remember, every day, the ideal

of this nation,

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so we do not despair.

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We create, so we do not despair.

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And when despair overtakes us,

we breathe, we straighten, we remember

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that every moment is the opportunity to begin again.

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This is how we survive.

This is how we repair.

This is how we resist.