Pocket paradigms

Those who think history has left us helpless should recall the abolitionist of 1830, the feminist of 1870, the labor organizer of 1890, or the gay or lesbian writer of 1910. They, like us, did not get to choose their time in history but they, like us, did get to choose what they did with it. Knowing what we know now about how it's turned out, what would we do if we suddenly found ourselves back in 1830? Would we bother? - Sam Smith