Opinion/Letter: Hampton’s Hannah Arendt moment

Portsmouth Herald

To the Editor: 

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil” – Hannah Arendt

Do not pretend Trump didn’t commit treason, or that MAGA supporters don’t support domestic terrorism. Do not pretend life is fair and equitable, and that bias doesn’t exist where you live. Stop thinking only about your own interests. 

It is time to stop hiding behind your busy lives. Your inaction might not affect you today or in your lifetime but staying silent will affect your children and the generations after.

It is time to stop hiding behind social media. Cancel culture and shaming is a tool for the powerless, but you have the power to build a real community that reflects your values. Use it.

Storming the Capitol, two impeachments, -15F in Spain, 1.95 million COVID deaths, Tesla worth over $860 billion, record-high money supply with record low inflation. We would have never seen this coming five years ago. So how can we know what will happen five years from now? 

Prioritizing education will prepare our children to do a better job than us. But for now, unprecedented circumstances require unprecedented cooperation, regardless of beliefs and politics. Your skills, your integrity, your ideas, and your energy are needed.

Listen to town meetings. Support your local politicians. Run for office.

January 20-29 is the filing date to run for 13 open positions in Hampton. I made up my mind and will run for one of them and hope some of you will too! If you need help, have questions, or if you don’t know where to start, you are not alone. Please reach out to me at katherineharake@gmail.com.

Katherine Harake

Hampton