A Trio of Notes

with Points to Ponder

Substack introduced a new feature, called Notes. Its stated intention is to provide another forum for engaging readers, with short posts and sharing the offerings of other writers. An additional goal is to allow us (you and I) to interact with other writers as well as each other and, in doing so, create a rising tide of engagement. The underlying purpose, though, is to help ‘we writers’ to grow our audience and, in doing so, get more readers to buy paid subscriptions. Sounds great, but not getting any response with the Notes I put forth, understandable since no one knows who I am, I’m sharing them with you. When my tree falls in the forest, I want someone to hear the noise.

* * *

I’ve been a journalist since 1975 and have owned a weekly newspaper in Fowlerville Michigan—my hometown—since 1985. There have been ebbs and flows of controversy, local and national, over those years.

Also, my coming-of-age years were in the mid-to-late 1960s and early 1970s when the Vietnam War, Civil Rights, the counter-cultural revolution, and related issues caused much divisiveness.

But what’s been going on for the past few years, creating our current political-social-cultural landscape, is challenging to say the least.

I love writing commentary, which is how and why I ended up with a Substack site. As such, I’ve always welcomed ‘letters to the editor’ even when I haven’t agreed with the sentiments that were put forth.

But since the 2020 presidential campaign, they’ve become more an albatross around my neck. More and more of the writers are addressing national issues rather than local concerns and their political loyalty is front-and-center.

Their language has become harsh, reflecting much of the dialogue now going on, although dialogue is probably a polite word for the acrimony that’s evident as people talk past each other.

I believe in freedom of expression, but also embrace civil discourse. That’s made me more and more an outlier.

Navigating all of this as a newspaper editor has become a dicey business. But then no one twisted my arm and said '“You have to be a journalist.”

So regard this as a report, not a whine.

* * *

For the first time in 40 years Democrats have a majority in both chambers of the Michigan State Legislature, along with having re-elected the governor, secretary of state, and attorney general to second terms. Added to that is a possibly sympathetic supreme court.

While the legislative majorities are slim, the opportunity has emboldened the party’s lawmakers to push an ambitious agenda in the first 100 days of the session. An expansion of civil rights protections, a repeal of an old law banning abortion, reversing the Right to Work law that Republicans had put into effect a decade ago along with reinstituting prevailing wage, and more recently the passage of some gun-control measures are among the highlights. Economic development initiatives and education have been other priorities

What happens going forward will be interesting. Will they ‘put the pedal to the metal’ on some of the more divisive issues and, in doing so, marginalize their Republican counterparts, or take a moderate course (moderate, of course, being in the eye of the beholder) with the goal of maintaining an appeal with the independent voters who so often decide elections in the state?

What happens and why are questions that keep commentators in business.

* * *

With all of the harsh disagreement and animosity running rampant, obscuring attempts at civil discourse and leaving one unsure of what lies ahead for the American community, I often wonder what personal direction I ought to take as a writer or whether I should bother anymore.

After all, truth be told, what combination of words or assembly of thoughts am I going to muster that will make much difference?

But whenever that uncertainty appears, as it does from time to time; whenever I’m unsure whether to engage or withdraw, to put forth the reflections and observations or keep quiet, I find comfort in history and its lessons.

Studying the past is an interest that began as a young student and has continued into an older age. It serves as a fertile ground for my journalistic and personal essays—the use of historical analogy helping illuminate current events. Whatever knowledge is gained may or may not be noteworthy, but at the very least it provides one with a longer view-both with what has already occurred and what might lie ahead.

As such, I’m encouraged to continue putting words to paper (or in this case putting them onto a screen)—hopeful that my individual effort, combined with others of like mind or similar disposition, might (at some point in time) make a difference.

A conceitful notion perhaps, but then we take our chances… every chance we get.

Steve Horton is a mid-Michigan journalist and editor-publisher of the ‘Fowlerville News & Views’—a weekly publication.