The western world seems much more troubled than it was 10 years ago. At the end of October in 2016, I took a solo trip — spending three days with my friends in Reykjavik and a week in Paris in a rented flat. Hope was in the air. Magazine covers in newsstands all over Paris featured Secretary Hillary Clinton who was presumed to be the next U.S. president. A taxi driver in Iceland conveyed he was concerned that Trump would win and that it would cause chaos around the world. I laughed it off as highly improbable, and I assured him that Clinton would win. A few days later, it was no laughing matter.
Paris was recovering from the multiple Islamic State (IS) terrorist attacks from the previous year. On Nov. 13, 2025, 130 people were killed and more than 400 were injured. Notably, 90 of the murdered were at Bataclan Theatre during a rock concert. I remembered that Parisians showed up by the thousands at the Place de la Republique on the evening of Nov. 15 despite a curfew to memorialize the victims and to be reminded, with the three statues under the larger statue of Marianne, of the three values essential to the French Republic —liberty, equality, and fraternity.
On my visit, I went to the Place de la Republique Square to sit and contemplate both the beauty of France and the tragedy that befell it the previous year. It would have been inconceivable to me that Paris would be under siege by many of its own residents and citizens as it has been in recent weeks. Demonstrations and political diversity are not uncommon in France, but senseless destruction of historic buildings and the large-scale ruination of shops and restaurants has not been part of the game plan until now.
Here in the United States, our divisions did not seem nearly as insurmountable as they do today. In an overt sense, antisemitism was merely the stuff of fringe groups on the right and left. While evangelical Christians mostly leaned right 10 years ago, I do not remember leaders shamelessly excusing morally reprehensible behavior from outside their ranks because it served them politically. It is not new to give cover to hypocrisy under the guise of concocted religious doctrine, but it has certainly reached new heights over the last decade.
Locally, discord over the Jones Library renovation in Amherst and the Main Street project in Northampton has pitted residents and other parties against each other for years. Our families and close circles were torn apart over public health approaches and inept leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. These days, people professing kindness and peace in protest marches are anything but kind and peaceful in an intransient “us versus them” modus operandi. Ten years ago, we argued and also learned a few things from people with varying viewpoints. Today, people utter sound bites and slogans as they seem uninterested in arguments that may involve complete sentences.
In my graduate school course on conflict resolution theory, I recently learned about the hurting stalemate. It is an apt term for a stage where neither side can win, neither is backing down, and both sides are suffering tremendously. It is also a ripe time for negotiation since the commonality of wanting a way out is at play. This reminds me to pay attention to timing, to stay present, and to not give in to hopelessness.
Tolstoy addressed moral and social responsibility when he wrote, “What then must we do?” No matter the results of our statewide and federal elections this week, our ruptures may continue to escalate. For me, one antidote that is implicitly productive is to assist another person through an action or by simply listening to her/him in a time of need. I would likely fall into a deep funk — more than a day of Netflix binging and eating too many carbs — if I did not feel useful to other people. I can’t cure the world of its moral inversions or groupthink dangers, but I can be beneficial in my day-to-day life. Altruism and selfishness seem paradoxical, yet it explains how happy I feel when I help another person.
Recently, I helped an incredible woman get the public recognition and appreciation she deserves for her work and leadership. It meant the world to her, and I am still floating as well. I believe that our actions reverberate. This is how we will save the world — one kind deed at a time. Perhaps this is a naïve notion. On the other hand, apathy is unthinkable. The hurting stalemate stage is unsustainable. Numerous significant events have taken place over the last 10 years — many of them tragic. What then must we do? It’s time for a decade on the upswing!
J.M. Sorrell is a monthly columnist. She is grateful to live in Massachusetts where most of our statewide and local elected officials are true public servants who inspire us to do our best.