Dear Editor
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash
February 21, 2025
In an email this week from Third Act, Bill McKibben outlines several actions that ordinary elders like me can take in response to “the Trump/Musk assault on our government and country.”
They have used every tool at their disposal to overwhelm, confuse, and demoralize—and they want us to feel powerless in the face of it. I confess that there are moments every day when I feel bewildered, flummoxed, and heartbroken.
But we are not powerless. But we must move from reactivity to action, in ways that are strategic, effective, and sustainable.
We know that real change comes from steady, determined effort. We move at the speed of trust, building power that lasts. In a moment like this, it’s tempting to react to every crisis, but we need to stay strategic, disciplined, and focused on the long game. We’re meeting this moment by doing what we do best: mobilizing elders for sustained political pressure, visibility, and movement-building that can’t be undone with the next news cycle. — Bill McKibben, 2/19/25
You can also find The Crucial Years by Bill McKibben but the email newsletter of Feb. 19 came from Third Act, an organization McKibben founded.
One of the actions is to write a letter to the editor of your local news publication, and Third Act makes it easy: just go to this page of their website. After you fill out the form with your name, email, street address, and phone number, you will see a list of local newspapers that will receive your letter. You have the option to uncheck any that you do not want to receive it. (Strangely, my list of ten publications includes the Seattle Weekly. I unchecked that one.)
A subject line is provided, which you can edit or change. Below that is the text box in which you insert the body of your letter. The form will automatically fill in each publication name and, after the closing, your full name, email, phone number, and location.
Then you click the Submit button. Just above the button is the suggestion, “For best results, please limit your responses to 75-150 words.” Mine weighs in at exactly 200 words (after I cut a paragraph that I really liked, about the effects of employee layoffs at national parks).
Below all of that are several tips and talking points you can use. There’s also an assurance that Third Act will protect your privacy.
I have no idea whether any of the news outlets on my list will publish my letter. I do not need to be concerned about results as I join my voice with others in an effort to make a difference.
Here is the letter I sent. If you decide to write a letter, either through the Third Act website or to send on your own to your local publication, feel free to use any or all of my letter.
Dear Editor,
As an elder, I’ve never seen an attack on our democracy like this one. I’m nearly 70 and I’ve lived through many of our country’s political crises, including the Watergate scandal, which began in 1972 and led to president Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Then, there was bipartisan opposition to lawlessness. Now, we are watching as the guardrails of our democracy are being torn down. We elders must sound the alarm.
Today, The Washington Post reports that President Trump is preparing to take control of the U.S. Postal Service, a move that “would probably violate federal law.”
This administration’s outright cruelty to immigrants, transgender children, and other marginalized communities is based on authoritarian bigotry and disregard for human lives.
Trump’s order to again withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement harms the efforts worldwide to combat global warming, as well as distancing the U.S. from its closest allies.
I am a member of Third Act, an organization of elders who are passionate about democracy and creating a thriving, livable world for all, including the generations that follow us. We must push back every way we can against this unprecedented attack on the foundations of our nation.
