“I won’t back down,” Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestine territories, after being sanctioned by Rubio’s State Department. Albanese’s sanctions were triggered by taking positions at [...]
Pat Taub
We are at a critical juncture. Basic freedoms and our safety—rights enshrined in the Constitution are under assault. We are becoming a nation ruled by Fascists, criminals and grifters. In the face of this danger, why are people disappearing into their phones, binging on Netflix, captive to gambling mania, scrolling through social media, [...]
Pat Taub
I’ve been thinking about kindness, and how dangerous its disappearance has become at this particular moment in American life. Kindness is usually considered a private virtue—a quality we teach our children and practice with our friends. Kindness is also political. Kindness is essential to bridging differences and creating an equitable [...]
Pat Taub
Lately I have been thinking about the meaning of home. Not the wonderful Victorian space I have lived in for almost 14 years; my neighborhood of tree-lined streets; the welcoming market; the Maine coastline that still takes my breath away. These places remain. What has changed is the country I thought I knew. I no longer feel at home here. [...]
Pat Taub
“What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.” —George Saunders, acclaimed novelist, in his 2013 Syracuse University commencement address. In a New York Times interview, referring to his commencement address, Saunders confessed that, looking back on his life, he wished he had been kinder. His Buddhist teachings frame [...]
Pat Taub