Commentary on NYT Article; Broad, Sunlit Uplands. By : Bret Stephens. Dec 21, 2022.

Written on Dec 21, 2022.

Bret Stephens writes that Winston Churchill laid  out the choice for his people many years ago during tumultuous times :  sunlit uplands, or the abyss.  Bret Stephens believes it remains our choice today.  Before we proceed with this premise, we must pinpoint  the people who identify with sunlit uplands, and those who are associated with the abyss.  Buddhism teaches that everything is in a constant state of flux.  Therefore  the question remains, “   whether we should accept change passively and be swept away by it, or whether we are able to take the lead and create positive changes on our own initiative. “  Conservatism and self-protection are likened to “winter, night and death,”  while the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize ideals, “evokes images of spring, morning and birth.”  

This is as clear a road map as we will ever need as we approach 2023 and prepare for presidential elections in 2024.  Republicans who are largely conservative in nature are more closely associated with “ winter, night,  and death, “ from a Buddhist perspective, and  “ the Abyss of a new Dark Age, “ from Winston Churchill’s perspective.  Meanwhile, progressives and those who create positive changes in society are likened to, “ spring, morning, and birth,” from a Buddhist perspective, and  “ broad,  sunlit uplands,” from Winston Churchill’s perspective.  

If we can stand up to the Republicans, to borrow a phrase from Churchill, “ then all of the United States will be free and the life of it's citizens will move forward into broad sunlit uplands.  But if we fail, then the entire country including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the likes of Donald Trump and his MAGA followers. “