This is why we should tell the stories — and value the experiences — of setbacks as well as those of incrementalism and movements, talk not just of grenades, shock troops, infantry, masterminds and strategists but also of stretcher-bearers, bandage makers and the injured, scarred, deserted and deeply flawed. The battlefield is vast, and even when the major conflicts have cooled and subsided from public view, someone is always fighting or striving on some patch, somewhere, sending up flares that are very rarely seen. Once they draw the eye, though, they are difficult to ignore.
