CHAPTER 4: The DEMOCRATIC (R)EVOLUTION We are better than we realize we are. For the first time, we can now create institutions of governance that elicit our best. Copyright 2026 by Paul L. LaClair
Value for Tuesday of Week 31 in the season of Ripening
Intervening
To live courageously, we may be compelled to intervene in unsavory situations.
- We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. [Martin Luther King, Jr., “A letter from Birmingham jail“.]
- We also want a free market, but we know that the paradox of a “free” market is that sometimes you have to intervene. You have to make sure it’s not the law of the jungle but the laws of democracy that works. [Margrethe Vestager]
- Bullies may be the perpetrators of evil, but it is the evil of passivity of all those who know what is happening and never intervene that perpetuates such abuse. [attributed to Philip Zimbardo]
To intervene on behalf of another: to interpose ourselves in the path of a hostile force; to take a risk to change the course of events in service of the well-being of others.
Real
True Narratives
One way to intervene is to treat or assist someone with a disability. For many years after autism became a medical diagnosis, people believed it was untreatable. Through determination and devotion, a few parents and mental health professionals proved that this view was incorrect. Their stories are inspiring.
- Catherine Maurice, Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph Over Autism (Knopf, 1993).
- Leeann Whiffen, A Child's Journey Out of Autism: One Family's Story of Living in Hope (Sourcebooks, 2009).
- Jenny McCarthy, Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (Dutton Adult, 2007).
- Jenny McCarthy, Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds (Dutton Adult, 2005).
Other narratives:
- Fabian Klose, ed., The Emergence of Humanitarian Intervention: Ideas and Practice from the Nineteenth Century to the Present (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
- Joshua James Kassler, Rwanda and the Moral Obligation of Human Intervention (Edinburgh University Press, 2014).
- Julia Flynn Siler, The White Devil’s Daughters: The Women Who Fought Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown (Knopf, 2019): “In her determination to avoid offenses against multiculturalism, Siler presents a less than comprehensive view of her subject.”
- Robert Kagan, The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941 (Knopf, 2023): “In a series of nimble polemics, and in expansive, finely wrought historical works, Kagan has spun variations on his theme: America’s unfolding purpose is to be the world’s organizing power, it owes this sense of mission to deeply ingrained American ideals, and the chief threat to this will-to-primacy comes not from without, but from within.”
- Steven Kendrick and Paul Kendrick, Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Life and and Win the 1960 Election (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021): “The story begins in mid-October 1960 with Martin Luther King Jr.’s incarceration (his first) in a Georgia jail cell and ends three weeks later with John F. Kennedy’s narrow victory over Richard M. Nixon in the most competitive presidential election of the 20th century.”
From the dark side:
- Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (Doubleday, 2019), “ . . . about what became known as the Troubles, and the people who caused or were caught in the Troubles.” (not speaking out)
Technical and Analytical Readings
Now that people have learned that autism can be treated, a scientific practice has emerged.
- Bryan Jepson, Changing the Course of Autism: A Scientific Approach for Patients and Physicians (Sentient Publications, 2007).
- Jacquelyn McCandless, Children with Starving Brains: A Medical Treatment Guide for Autism Spectrum Disorder (Bramble Books, 2009).
- Ellen Notbohm, Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew (Future Horizons, 2005).
- Michael H. Katz, Evaluating Clinical and Public Health Interventions: A Practical Guide to Study Design and Statistics (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Arguments for dissent:
- Cass R. Sunstein, Why Societies Need Dissent (Harvard University Press, 2003).
- Nicolaus Mills and Walter Salzer, 50 Years of Dissent (Yale University Press, 2004).
Early childhood intervention:
- Jack P. Shankoff, Samuel J. Meisels and Edward F. Zigler, eds., Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2000).
- Maurice A. Feldman, ed., Early Intervention: The Essential Readings (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003).
- Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, ed., Early Intervention for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Crisis intervention:
- Kenneth Yeager and Albert Roberts, eds., Crisis Intervention Handbook: Assessment, Treatment, and Research (Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 2015).
- Richard K. James and Burl E. Gilliland, Crisis Intervention Strategies (Brooks Cole, 8th edition, 2016).
- James E. Hendricks and Cindy S. Hendricks, Crisis Intervention in Criminal Justice/Social Service (Charles C. Thomas Pub., Ltd., 5th edition, 2005).
By military means:
- L. Holzgrefe and Robert O. Keohane, Humanitarian Intervention: Ethical, Legal, and Political Dilemmas (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
- Thomas G. Weiss, Humanitarian Intervention (Polity, 3rd edition, 2016).
- Aiden Hehir, Humanitarian Intervention: An Introduction (Palgrave MacMillan, 2nd edition, 2013).
- Anne Orford, Reading Humanitarian Intervention: Human Rights and the Use of Force in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
- Rajon Menon, The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Conflict resolution:
- Séverine Autesserre, Peaceland: Conflict Resolution and the Everyday Politics of International Intervention (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
- Peter T. Coleman, Morton Deutsch and Eric C. Marcus, eds., The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (Jossey-Bass, 3rd edition, 2014).
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Fictional accounts of intervention:
- Ray Bradbury, Farenheit 451: A Novel (1953): “The story is told in third person, following protagonist Guy Montag through his daily routine as a 24th-century fireman. In the beginning, Montag is content with his repetitive lifestyle, burning illegally owned books and the homes they were found in. This changes, however, when Montag encounters a strange girl who portrays taboo, borderline illegal characteristics such as creativity. Soon, Montag finds himself questioning the value of his profession and, in turn, his life.”
- Dai Sijie, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel (Knopf, 2001): “. . . Dai delivers an important message: any system that fears knowledge and education, any system that closes the mind to moral and intellectual truth, is evil and will prove in the end to be impotent. This is brought beautifully home to us when the narrator meets a doctor who has also read Balzac.”
- Thomas Keneally, Schindler’s List: A Novel (Simon & Schuster, 1994): “. . . Oskar Schindler is remembered, as few men have ever been, in the testimony of 1,300 Jewish workers who escaped Poland's cities of death because Schindler, against every probability, became a possessed man, ready to risk everything in a daring, almost flaunted mission of rescue.”
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Operas in which an intervention on another’s behalf, or for self, plays some role in the story:
- Vincenzo Bellini, Norma (1831) (approx. 152-184) (libretto) (list of recorded performances): the title character’s values are confused, at best, but her commitment to intervene to protect her children is not – OK, she considers killing them but in her mind, it would be for their own good. “Norma wrestles with her conscience as she contemplates the murder of her children. She manages to restrain herself and decides to entrust them to Adalgisa's care.” We dodged that bullet but this is a Bellini opera, which does not end well. Norma “is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice”, and mounts a funeral pyre to prove it. Video recordings feature Sutherland (Bonynge) in 1978, Theodossiou (Pontiggia) in 2011, and Rebeka (Passerini) in 2023. Best audio recordings are by Callas, Nicolai, Corelli & Christoff (Votto) in 1953; Callas, Simionato, Del Monaco & Zaccaria (Votto) in 1955; Callas, Ludwig, Corelli & Zaccaria (Serafin) in 1960 ***; Sutherland, Horne, Alexander & Cross (Bonynge) in 1963; Sutherland, Cossotto, Craig & Vinco (Bonynge) in 1969; Sutherland, Tourangeau, Alexander & Grant (Bonynge) in 1972; Caballé, Cossotto, Domingo & Raimondi (Cillario) in 1972; Caballé, Veasey, Vickers & Ferrin (Patanè) in 1974; and Sutherland, Caballé, Pavarotti & Ramey (Bonynge) in 1984.
- Karl Goldmark, Die Konigin von Saba (The Queen of Sheba) (1875) (approx. 188-194’): “The main plot . . . revolves around a love triangle between the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon’s ambassador, Assad, and his finance, Sulamith, on the occasion of the Queen’s visit to the King’s court in Jerusalem. The opera ends with Assad’s death, after repentance for his brief infatuation with the Queen and forgiveness by Sulamith.” The queen’s intervention on her lover’s behalf fails and self-serving but it is an important part of the story. Audio recordings are by: Takács, Jerusalem, Kincses & Hungarian State Opera Orchestra (Ádám Fischer) in 1981; and by Hebelková, Thammathi, Mihelič, Szemerédy, & Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg (Bollon) in 2016.
- Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Sadko (1896) (approx. 130-174’) (list of recorded performances): the story is about a poor musician who succeeds wildly but then abuses his success, with predictable results in a Romantic opera. The intervention occurs when a young woman returns the title character to his home, after he has been engulfed by the sea. The opera concludes this way: “Sadko is asleep on the shore of Lake Ilmen, watched over by Princess Volkhova, who sings a lullaby. She bids a last farewell to the still-sleeping minstrel and then vanishes in the mist, turning into the great River Volkhov, which flows from Lake Ilmen to sea. Lyubava is distractedly searching for her husband. When she sees him asleep on the shore of the lake she is filled with delight. Sadko awakes. He thinks he has been asleep since he last parted with her, that his voyage was only a dream. But the sight of his fleet sailing up the new river from the sea tells him that it was all real, and that he is now the richest man in Novgorod. He is welcomed by the citizens of the town, among them the three merchants who sang for him before he set out on his long journey.” Video recordings feature Atlantov (Ermler) in 1980; Galusin (Gergiev) in 2016; and Zurabishvili (Jurowski) in 2017. Audio recordings feature Nelepp (Golovanov) in 1949; and Nesterenko (Gergiev) in 1994.
- Leoš Janáček, Katya Kabanova, JW I:8 (1921) (approx. 103-128’) (libretto) (list of recorded performances): “This tragic play from tsarist Russia of the mid-19th century tells the story of a young woman who is driven to suicide by the hypocritical morality of society.” Though dubious, the suggestion is that she has rescued herself. Video recordings feature Kuznetsova (Chudovsky); Shade (Thieleman) in 2015; and Winters (Hrůša) in 2022. Audio recordings are by Soderstrom, Dvorsky, Kniplová & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Mackerras) in 1977; and by Beňačková, Straka, Randová, Pecková & Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Mackerras) in 1996.
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Randy Newman, "Louisiana 1927" (lyrics)
Visual Arts
- Jacques-Louis David, Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799)
Film and Stage
- Schindler’s List: the historical drama about Oskar Schindler’s heroism in risking his life to save Jews in Nazi Germany
- Sophie Scholl: three young Germans try to oppose Hitler
- The Search: American soldiers try to save lost children of Europe after World War II
- 101 Dalmations, the animated film about rescuing Dalmation pups who have been kidnapped by the aptly named Cruella De Vil
