With all the chaos in the world, we need a bit of hope, a bit of remembrance that life is not always a series of catastrophes, even when it appears to be that way. Starvation in Gaza, which I consider to be genocide as many who are hungry will not survive, is hard to watch. And my country, the United States, is turning the corner in many ways from a democratic experiment to the fast track roller coaster to totalitarianism.
I do not mean authoritarianism, where one leader or party, shifts what was a multi-party system into a series of crushing blows to the minority or opposition, thus rendering our democracy inert, ineffective, and unresponsive.
I refer to the type of governmental control that I encountered in college when studying Eastern European historical and political systems, specifically those tactics used by the leaders of the former Soviet system. Despite their motto, “Workers of the World, Unite!” the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics politically evinced the reality of one-party system. The cult of personality most famously noted under Stalin’s regime (1924-1953) also began a stream of Soviet party leaders who ruled until death. I still remember the way the state-run television station would play certain mournful music as part of the announcement and grief process for a leader’s death.
A Stalin banner in Budapest, 1949 [Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R78376 / CC-BY-SA 3.0]
Stalin, known for brutality, continued the march from authoritarianism to totalitarianism with his use of oppressive tactics such as forced collectivization, first with five-year plans in the agricultural sector, followed by his use of the gulag (labor camps meant to “correct” certain behaviors to ensure compliance). However, his largest maneuver was his self-installation as the ultimate power in the Soviet political system. He was the ultimate arbiter of everything from art to literature to music to economic policy to politics to military tactics.
Perhaps this path was set during Stalin’s upbringing in poverty, followed by a period where he might have become a priest, before being swayed by Chernyshevsky’s famous 1863 novel, Chto Delat? (What Is To Be Done?), a Russian literary staple that promoted the idea of a socialist utopia and economic independence. As a response to Turgenev’s well-known 1862 novel, “Otsi et detsi” (Fathers and Sons), which highlighted societal generational differences between nihilism and liberalism, Chernyshevsky’s novel would have encouraged Stalin to think differently about the future and how socialism might be a part of the answer.
As with many dictators, there are points in Stalin’s life where he might have gravitated in a different direction. He might have used lessons learned from years in seminary to practice compassion. Stalin might have maintained his initial enthusiasm for Marxism as evidenced by his reading of Das Kapital, although Marx advocated a new economic system at odds with his more famous economic predecessors, such as Adam Smith, whose work lent itself as a basis for what we now know as capitalism.
Even in youthful choices to work with the burgeoning socialists, he chose the more radical Bolsheviks rather than the Mensheviks. As history notes, the Bolsheviks won and Stalin’s devotion to the cause paid off, especially after Lenin’s death. He learned how to increase the cult of personality when he took over the party and therefore the country. Promoting those loyal to him and the resulting rewards given to them led to a nation fully under the cult of Stalin. Moreover, it led to a flaw in the Soviet system: with everything under one person, one ideal, and one thought-concept, public and private thought in Soviet life was hamstrung.
While one of the main government newspapers, Pravda (or “Truth”), was known to promote anything but the actual truth beyond the governmental party line, ordinary citizens had their own way of maintaining “Truth” (with a capital T”). There was what one said in the “official” papers or in public, and what one could say in private, only when being careful.
While many have heard of the purges, there were relatively bright spots, where Stalin, perhaps in a good mood, would allow the individual the right and choice to leave the then-USSR willingly, rather than submit that person to the show trials with the ultimate sentence pre-determined through death or worse, time spent in the gulag. In 1931, Zamyatin was one of the lucky ones. Given the subversive nature of his classic Russian novel, Miy (We), with its clear dystopian stance that went against the then-literary preference for socialist realism, Zamyatin’s successful appeal to Stalin was a miracle.
The more I look at our current political, economic, and social situation in the United States, the more I see the veil of the late 1920s-1930s Russia, when the reflection of the five-year plan to increase economic prosperity with a plan that led to famine and near-economic collapse instead, and the insistence in the early 1930s on promotion of a cultural revolution to include socialist realism.
Socialist realism included earlier published novels such as Fyodor Gladkov‘s Cement (1925), Nikolai Ostrovsky‘s How the Steel Was Tempered (1936), and the infamous novel by Maxim Gorky, Mother (1906), where the lead character, Pelageya Nilovna Vlasova, as an uneducated factory worker demonstrates the glory of revolution by getting involved. Having read Cement, I must confess there was little about the life described that brought me joy, but I do admire Gladkov for utilizing the novel form to point off explore the societal goal of equality between the sexes, especially and in particular with women in the workplace, such as the cement factory.
While the clear goal of socialist realism in many ways was to reinforce the ideals of a utopia, the eventual purges of political and cultural opponents under Stalin twisted the path from the veneer of socialism past the surface authoritarianism to a full plunge into totalitarianism. Stalin’s mercurial nature meant that sometimes there was a seeming compassion and awareness of justice juxtaposed with removal of military commanders, the start of ethnic cleansing, and increased replacement of individuals in key positions who were completely loyal to Stalin.
The Great Seal of the United States (Obverse) – U.S. Government, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Trump administration’s goal – as evidenced by ICE’s program of mass deportation, which mostly has targeted non-violent working immigrants – is a homogenous population where everyone looks the same and thinks the same. This directly opposes our country’s sacred motto: “E pluribus unum” – “From Many – One.” We have lived by these simple words since 1782 when the Continental Congress made it our motto. It resides on the Great Seal, so when we look at our great national bird, the eagle with the ribbon in its beak. When we see the full majesty of the eagle with symbols of peace (the olive branch) and symbols of strength and war (the arrows), it is clear that this public representation of our nation holds more than one single view: we are supportive of peace, while being prepared militarily.
Within tarot, The Star often is depicted with water pouring between the two chalices – as above, so below. This aspect of the Star asks the querent and all of us to have faith and to know that what we are working towards in life is not in vain. What we do in the physical realm can and does have an effect upon and may be affected by the spiritual domain and vice versa. A willingness to embrace calmness, positive renewal, and hope on the spiritual plane can affect actions that we take or experience on the physical plane.
In this instance, hope is a verb, not a straightforward and uncomplicated noun. Hope requires action on our part, in the ability to discern when not to give up, as well as the energy to strategize and strengthen a desired future.
The Star tarot card by Pamela Colman Smith from the Rider-Waite Tarot [public domain]
The Star encourages us to see the positive nature in the midst of deep and dark devastation. At this time, we need to remember why we make the decisions and honor the commitments that we do as havoc renders our expected sense of normalcy useless.
In short, hope is important. “Tomorrow” as sung by a very young Tevin Campbell in Quincy Jones’ 1989 masterpiece Back on the Block has lyrics that remind the listener of the message of love and hope – in tomorrow. “We can go anywhere we want, any road we decide to take / And we’re never, never, never too far from tomorrow today.”
Complaining is far too easy. Seeing not what we do not have or who we do not have, but what and who we do have on our side is far more important.
Kermit the Frog refers to his reality as wisdom he received from the great University of Maryland College Park alumnus Jim Henson during a well-received commencement address in May 2025 to the University of Maryland College Park graduates. As a muppet, he honored Henson’s work and creation by providing inspiration based on lessons from Jim Henson regarding finding people, taking the leap, and making connections. Commencement speeches by default are pillars of optimism and inspiration. They represent hope for those who are transitioning from the certainty of college into the uncertainty of the world that awaits them.
During this time of uncertainty, when we are not sure what is up or down, it is important to stay connected to your dreams and to balance the realism that surrounds us with the optimism that there is a solution to avoid the seemingly certain rollercoaster that appears to be driving our lives and our country towards a totalitarian path.
Hope means more than just wishful thinking, but taking active conscious steps to achieve one’s goals. We each can do that – one day at a time – one portion at time. We just need to remember to never give up.
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