No. 5 of 108
June 18 2025
The Supremes vote 6-3 to uphold a ban on gender-affirming care for youth. British Parliament votes to decriminalize abortions. The Service to America medal for outstanding public service goes to a Treasury civil servant who quit in protest. “Sometimes you are defined by what you achieve and sometimes by what you decide not to do”, said the introducer. Unlikely anyone is sleeping in Tehran, Tel Aviv, or Gaza as their leaders are “determined”, “resolute”, “unflinching”. The red-tie man hasn’t decided whether to use the Massive Ordnance Penetrator to take out the underground nuclear weapons facility. What is known is the “best poles anywhere in the country” are being installed in front of the White House, better to hold up massive flags.
Sometimes you are defined by what you achieve and sometimes by what you decide not to do. Achievement has long been the prize, defined by winning, by bigger, by best, by more, by proving rightness. Achievement’s centrality has contributed to where we are and who we are, often exacting a sharp price. Deciding not to do something, not to be something, not to have something is not in itself a remedy. Especially if lacking moral values, and a strategy to a better future. When values and ways forward do align, it can be powerful.
