Mole End

The Mole has once again relearned an old lesson — "to see a world in a grain of sand" — in his usual way:  get drawn in by the specific, then twig to the wider idea.  This time the context was the seventh episode of Alexis Madrigal's podcast Containers and the text was this:

Every time I hear that clip from Frank, I can feel my heart swelling with this vision of a utopia that seems finely tuned for me. There is economic justice, racial solidarity, rich culture, opportunity for anyone willing to work. Right here in Oakland.

…

But nostalgia is a trap. Nostalgia blinds us to the failings of the past … and to the potential of our own time. We are alive now and the best we can do with the romance of the past is distill the values and visions that intoxicate us into principles for the future that we want to make.

Wise words.