I feel hopeful today because of a hard truth I am finally seeing clearly: we are learning the cost of silence.
I’ve been reflecting on a line from Philippa Gregory’s Boleyn Traitor, a novel about Jane Boleyn. As she nears the end of her life, Jane realizes that Katherine Howard is destined for the same fate as those before her. Speaking of the tyranny of Henry VIII, she speculates that they all should have said “no” when the first innocent fell—to the axe or the rope—so that someone would have been there to say “no” for them at the end. It is a chilling reminder: if we do not say “no” now, there will be no one left to say “no” for us later.
The Great Awakening
My broad hope is that the current “license to be vicious” is actually a massive, painful alarm clock. It is forcing those who were once indifferent to realize that we can no longer afford to look away. There is a certain power in this lack of ambiguity; the ridiculous arrogance of this vitriol has left no room for fence-sitting. Because the manifestation of this evil is so prevalent and so loud, everyone is forced to either condone it or denounce it.
I do not believe there are more hateful people in the country now than before, though that realization sent me into an emotional downward spiral in October 2025. I drastically underestimated how many truly awful people are out there. These mindsets have always existed, but they have now been legitimized and vindicated. Years of social suppression created a pressurized explosion of vitriol the moment that behavior was validated. But now, as the results of that explosion plays out in real-time, I believe saner minds will prevail.
To read the full article, go to the Green Egg Blog: https://greeneggmagazine.com/2026/05/08/the-cost-of-silence-and-the-weight-of-hope/