Societies, societal attitudes, and cultural norms change, but people not so much. Positive societal developments reinforce a healthy sense of progress and purpose, but they also trick us into taking too much for granted. Blind to the darkest parts of our own natures, we are caught off guard when the greed, cynicism, hubris, fear, prejudice, and hatred of individuals and mobs assert themselves.

The paradoxical relationship between societal change and human nature can be confounding, but it must not be permitted to immobilize us. There are so many examples of people following their better natures in the final weeks of this electoral fight, so many doing their best to be brave and not despair.