Happy Holidays to our Useful Idiots family,

Five years ago, we came to Substack to start what was to become one of the most special communities on the internet, and as we approach 50,000 members on Substack and 200,000 on YouTube, we’re stepping back to appreciate this band that’s grown bigger than we ever expected.

Times are tough. We say it every year. And it only seems to get worse out there: just watch this year’s interviews on Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Lebanon, and the US itself. It’s dark times.

But then, sometimes, we also think about something Norman Finkelstein told us for when the light seems dimmest:

Our generation has, for good reason, lost the belief, the conviction that we have the force of history behind us. Our generation believes there’s a good chance we’ll be defeated. There’s a good chance we’re not going to win.

But you can only know one thing for certain: If you do nothing, it can only get worse. There’s that folk song, “It’s always darkest before the dawn. It’s this hope that keeps me carrying on. It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

There’s just something in the human constitution that simply can’t do nothing. In the face of such death and devastation, you just can’t.

To us, building up a community like this one to inform, to create activists, to rally together, is real resistance. It’s hard, it’s slow going, and sometimes it may feel pointless, but it’s this hope that keeps us carrying on. We’re stronger for every member of the Useful Idiots community.

Thanks for sticking with us for five years.

Love,

Katie, Aaron, and Wilson

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P.S. You still have until 11:59pm tonight to get free Useful Idiots…