Sometimes, honey, you have to fight, even when you’re not defending yourself. Sometimes it’s just the right thing to do. Tomorrow you need to stand u… - JD Vance

We talk about the value of hard work but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: Obama shut down the coal mines, or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance — the broken connection between the world we see and the values we preach.

That was the essence of Mamaw’s genius. She didn’t just preach and cuss and demand. She showed me what was possible — a peaceful Sunday afternoon with the people I loved — and made sure I knew how to get there.

In the US, justifications for the war often depend on a contemporary domino theory: unless we stop Putin in Ukraine, he won't stop there. But the time has come for Europe to stand on its own feet. That doesn't mean it has to stand alone, but it must not continue to use America as a crutch.