Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

We live in our own version of Wonderland

Drawing of a scene from "Alice in Wonderland"

Alice attends the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, iIllustration by Sir John Tenniel.

Andrew_Howe

Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Alice cried after falling down the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

In nearly every arena of our lives we might observe the same, from our changing climate and increasingly high-stakes global conflicts, to space travel, energy conservation and the accelerating use of artificial intelligence. And, of course, in our volatile politics. Things are indeed getting curiouser.


Each of our branches of government frequently inhabits an improbable “wonderland.” In the executive branch’s presidential race, we heard: “Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”

What?!

Like the White Rabbit in Alice’s Wonderland, is the Republican candidate scurrying off to his terribly important date? Win, or an insurrection? Has someone stolen the Red Queen’s tarts, or the previous election? No, it’s Wonderland.

In Wonderland’s Caucus Race, “They began running when they liked, and left when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over.” Sounds much like the Democratic Party’s election process, which we thought happened during the primaries. Apparently not.

And participants in the Queen’s croquet game have nothing on our Congress. “They all played at once, without waiting for turns, quarreling all the while” is a lot like our legislative branch. Lawmakers often even use the Red Queen’s method to win the day: “sentence first, verdict afterwards!”

What about our third, unelected, judicial branch? Again, who stole the tarts? But it was ruled that no tarts were stolen; there are just different rules for those who make the rules. The Red Queen’s “off with their heads” is too harsh, but not reporting lavish gifts and vacations should have some consequences.

Wonderland’s Mock Turtle could be talking about our political campaigns and their “different branches: Ambition, Distraction, Uglification and Derision.” Ambitious politicians spouting ugly rhetorical derisions pretty much describes what we see and hear from every media outlet every day this election season.

Although we may want to hide our heads in a hole, we cannot. And we cannot escape, tumbling down a rabbit hole as Alice did. What then?

Attend the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and imitate the Dormouse, falling asleep with our heads in our teacups? No time for that. Or perhaps the Caterpillar had the right idea? Take all the pundits, roll them together and smoke them to escape reality. For many reasons, it is a bad idea.

“I wish I hadn’t cried so much,” Alice said, swimming in a pool of her own tears. She is right. There is far too much at stake for useless tears.

The best advice: Do not drink any potions marked “Drink Me,” as the concoction makes us too big or too small. We cannot afford to get too big to listen to others’ viewpoints, or become small enough to drown in our own pool of despair. Be skeptical, but hopeful.

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice tells the Cheshire Cat. “Oh, you can’t help that,” he replies. “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad. You must be or you wouldn’t have come here.”

Probably true. And here we are. But we have always been here, always brooked controversy and disagreement, arguing and posturing. This adventure is nothing new for us.

Carroll wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” in Oxford, England, in 1865. The same year, our country was coming to the end of a devastating Civil War and our 16th, and arguably greatest president, was assassinated. Yet, here we are today, holding an election for our 47th.

When Alice’s sister hears her tales from Wonderland, she reminds Alice it was all a dream.

So, too, is democracy a dream. One which for 248 years has withstood all kinds of inanity, difficulties, wars, etc., yet continues to exist on the solid ground of the real world.

The dream lives on. Crafted into reality by the foresight of our founders, instilled with checks and balances, a living, changing entity of individual states, united. Stronger for our diversity, more stable with our open venues for discussion and argument, and, despite our differences and strife, still thriving, Wonderland in its wonder.

And still the greatest country the world has ever seen.

Read More

As DOE Redirects Funding for Puerto Rico’s Rooftop Solar, Experts Say the Change Could Strengthen Gas Systems

View of the LNG Terminal in San Juan, where most of Puerto Rico's natural gas resources are shipped to. The island currently imports 85% of its energy resources.

As DOE Redirects Funding for Puerto Rico’s Rooftop Solar, Experts Say the Change Could Strengthen Gas Systems

When President Biden first announced $1 billion in funding to install rooftop solar in Puerto Rico’s vulnerable communities two years ago, many Puerto Ricans felt it was cause for celebration. Federal officials have long sought to support rooftop solar in Puerto Rico, which could help the island's unstable energy grid become more energy-independent.

But under the leadership of President Trump — and with support from Puerto Rico’s newly elected governor, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colòn — these federal dollars could end up going toward the island’s gas-heavy grid rather than renewable energy efforts.

Keep ReadingShow less
For Sale. Public Lands. Never Imagined.

A group of hikers at the Zion National Park in Utah.

Getty Images, Jeremy Woodhouse

For Sale. Public Lands. Never Imagined.

Congress is discussing a dark and disturbing deal right under our noses: to sell up to a quarter-billion acres of America’s public lands. The proposed bill would open vast stretches of federally protected lands, including national forests to private interests. Without any substantial safeguards, these lands could be bought by foreign investors, corporations, and the ultra-wealthy to be developed into gated communities, resource extraction sites, or other commercial ventures. This legislation is a corporate land grab that threatens our natural heritage, our safety, and our future. It is a full-frontal attack on the American West.

Our country’s natural wonders are already under fire. This administration recently laid off roughly 1,000 workers in the National Park Service, or about five percent of its workforce. These dedicated professionals are the backbone of conservation efforts; they manage trails, clear brush, teach visitors about the animals and the stars, and tend to endangered species (and, presumably, at least one of them runs the National Park Service social media accounts, which are fantastic). When the personnel responsible for maintaining our parks are cut back, we risk letting our environment fall victim to neglect, creating conditions ripe for ecological disasters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Can AI Fill the Silence for Aging-Abroad Seniors?
man and woman walking on road during daytime

Can AI Fill the Silence for Aging-Abroad Seniors?

Since 2023, 30.8% of King County households have reported speaking a foreign language other than English at home. The demographic shift indicates that residents aged 65 and older are projected to increase by 85% between 2020 and 2035, according to Age Friendly Seattle.

Among them, a growing number are immigrants with limited English proficiency, often isolated from digital tools and access to public services.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump and Elon Musk
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk sit ringside at a UFC fight in November.
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

With Billions of Dollars Controlling American Politics, the Government Will Never Be for the People

The Fulcrum is committed to nurturing the next generation of journalists. To learn about the many NextGen initiatives we are leading, click HERE.

We asked Jared Tucker, a student at the University of Washington and a cohort member with the Fulcrum Fellowship, to share his thoughts on what democracy means to him and his perspective on its current health.

Keep ReadingShow less