Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Time's up. The art of making a better exit

Time's up. The art of making a better exit

Former U.S. Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to reporters inside the U.S. Capitol Building about her husband Paul Pelosi's recovery on January 27, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Richard Davies is a solutions journalist and podcast consultant. He co-hosts two bi-weekly podcasts: "Let's Find Common Ground" for commongroundcommittee.org, "How Do We Fix It?"

A lot of people I know are reading and chatting about a book with a very blunt title that was written by a wise 89-year-old woman from Sweden.


“The Gentle Swedish Art of Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter” is the title in the U.S. In Sweden they call it “Döstädning.” In our society, where we are rather squeamish about discussing death, we might prefer to call this sensible practice “streamlining.”

“Döstädning” means removing unnecessary stuff that you’ve collected over many years and making your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet. Döstädning is a hot topic among the over 60’s crowd—those we politely refer to as “senior citizens.”

Death cleaning, or getting our affairs in order, makes perfect sense, and saves precious time for our loved ones when we are gone.

The book’s author, Margareta Magnusson, writes with a dash of wry humor in a direct manner. Some of her prose is so lovely and wistful that there is a hint of poetry. Magnusson’s next book, soon to be published here, is called "The Swedish Art of Aging Well: Life Wisdom From Someone Who Will (probably) Die Before You."

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

I plan to read that one as well.

Around here in Southeast Connecticut those who ignore Margareta Magnusson’s advice sometimes fill me with sadness. Many old folks live alone and haven’t moved in years. They occupy houses with attics and garages full of stuff. They never threw away their old rarely used possessions.

When we die we often leave it to those we love the most to perform the monumental, dreary task of finding a home or a dumpster for everything from our old armchairs and tables right down to thimbles, paper-clips and pins. We should start early, or in my case, now.

Myra, a dear old friend of mine in her mid-80’s, died a couple of months ago. I called one of her sons the other day and asked: “How are you doing?” He told me a sad story. He loved his mom very much but sorting through all her stuff has been very hard. Especially the old photographs. “What do we throw away, what do we keep,” he wondered. It has been emotional and exhausting.

Perhaps “Döstädning” should apply not only to our personal affairs, but public life too.

Far too many elected politicians are too slow to step away from their time in the sun and leave the stage. The problem is more pronounced in the U.S. than in many other nations, where perhaps more elected officials know that they have a life after politics. In November Charles Grassley of Iowa was re-elected to another six year term in the Senate. He is 89.

If President Biden runs again next year — as he’s expected to do — and wins a second term in the White House, he’ll be 86 by the time he leaves office.

It’s quite possible that in 2024 Biden will face former President Trump (76) in a rematch. What a sorry prospect.

The elderly have a great deal of experience and wisdom but should they remain in highly demanding stressful jobs beyond their time? Baby boomers like me still have a lot to give (and write), but there should be time limits or term limits on those who hang around too long.

Last month, 82-year-old Nancy Pelosi had the good grace to step down as House Speaker. In a recent interview with Maureen Dowd in The New York Times, Pelosi said that “It’s just the time, and that’s it. Upward and onward. I’m thrilled with the transition. I think it was beautiful.”

Her daughter Alexandra, a documentary filmmaker, told Dowd that “my mother is at peak happiness. I’ve never seen her like this.”

What a splendid exit. May the rest of us know when to face up to later years of our life with similar good grace.

Read More

Defining the Democracy Movement: Karissa Raskin
- YouTube

Defining the Democracy Movement: Karissa Raskin

The Fulcrum presents The Path Forward: Defining the Democracy Reform Movement. Scott Warren's interview series engages diverse thought leaders to elevate the conversation about building a thriving and healthy democratic republic that fulfills its potential as a national social and political game-changer. This initiative is the start of focused collaborations and dialogue led by The Bridge Alliance and The Fulcrum teams to help the movement find a path forward.

Karissa Raskin is the new CEO of the Listen First Project, a coalition of over 500 nationwide organizations dedicated to bridging differences. The coalition aims to increase social cohesion across American society and serves as a way for bridging organizations to compare notes, share resources, and collaborate broadly. Karissa, who is based in Jacksonville, served as the Director of Coalition Engagement for a number of years before assuming the CEO role this February.

Keep ReadingShow less
Business professional watching stocks go down.
Getty Images, Bartolome Ozonas

The White House Is Booming, the Boardroom Is Panicking

The Confidence Collapse

Consumer confidence is plummeting—and that was before the latest Wall Street selloffs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship
Getty Images, Mykyta Ivanov

Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship

The current approaches to proactively counteracting authoritarianism and censorship fall into two main categories, which we call “fighting” and “Constitution-defending.” While Constitution-defending in particular has some value, this article advocates for a third major method: draining interest in authoritarianism and censorship.

“Draining” refers to sapping interest in these extreme possibilities of authoritarianism and censorship. In practical terms, it comes from reducing an overblown sense of threat of fellow Americans across the political spectrum. When there is less to fear about each other, there is less desire for authoritarianism or censorship.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Vote" pin.
Getty Images, William Whitehurst

Most Americans’ Votes Don’t Matter in Deciding Elections

New research from the Unite America Institute confirms a stark reality: Most ballots cast in American elections don’t matter in deciding the outcome. In 2024, just 14% of eligible voters cast a meaningful vote that actually influenced the outcome of a U.S. House race. For state house races, on average across all 50 states, just 13% cast meaningful votes.

“Too many Americans have no real say in their democracy,” said Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano. “Every voter deserves a ballot that not only counts, but that truly matters. We should demand better than ‘elections in name only.’”

Keep ReadingShow less