And So, We all just need to breathe.

We all just need to breathe. This is the 2024 election cycle as many of you I have

also been watching the DNC and watching the sort of

changes that have happened in this political climate and have a sense of dread but

also a sense of sort of clarity looking back since 2016 to now

about the kinds of political cycles that this country undergoes, the kind of

politics that get espoused in the media, the kind of coronation of certain

individuals of the ruling class to come and represent and seek votes in this country.

But I also want to just take a moment and kind of step back from all of that to think about what does it mean to be a human being in this

particular moment and time. That's not something that our political class is

asking of us. That's not something our media class is asking of us, but I think as people who are on the left and

thinking about creating a better planet and a future for all of us.

This is something that we have to do and we have to breathe.

We have to stop and breathe and take this particular political moment

for what it is.

And I want to start by looking at what happened at the DNC.

When I talk to my students, when I talk to my comrades and organizing spaces,

when I give public lectures... to my comrades and organizing spaces.

When I give public lectures or I'm in study groups,

I always caution against following the presidential election cycles in the United States.

And the reason why I do this

is because these sort of politics

...