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Political Courage

What is it & where can I find it?

Douglas Perkins
4 min readJun 9, 2021
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Joe Versus the Volcano

Remember that movie with Tom Hanks Joe Versus the Volcano? I love that movie.

The protagonist, Joe, is a former firefighter known for his heroism. After quitting the fire department for health reasons, he devolves into a depressed hypochondriac. A strange series of events finds him on a sailboat headed for the South Pacific with a beautiful woman, Patricia, played by Meg Ryan. One evening the two are lounging on the deck of the boat chatting and getting to know each other.

A few interesting comments are made in the conversation as they describe themselves and their interests. “I have no interest in myself. I start thinking about myself and I get bored out of my mind.” Patricia then asks Joe, “What does interest you?” — Here is the crux of the conversation and the premise of what we will talk about today. Joe responds, “Courage. Courage interests me.”

Courage in Politics

I readily echo that sentiment. Courage interests me. But I want to take it a step further and get more specific. Courage in politics fascinates me; I can’t get enough. I watch for it. When I read books on politics and political history, I watch for instances of courage. It is rarer than you might think.

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