Our
civilization is locked in the grip of an ideology - corporatism. An ideology that
denies and undermines the legitimacy of individuals as the citizen in a democracy.
The particular imbalance of this ideology leads to a worship of self-interest
and a denial of the public good. The practical effects on the individual are passivity
and conformism in the areas that matter, and non-conformism in the areas that
don't
-- John Ralston Saul
 | *
The spread of democracy is a wonderful thing—it is a necessary foundation for
peace—and it can happen. But it cannot be advanced by force, and still less by
the creation of a new empire, an idea that is as unworkable as it morally mistaken.
Empire, the embodiment of force, violates equity on a global scale. No lover of
freedom can give it support. It is especially contrary to the founding principles
of the United States.
-- Jonathan
Schell |
| *
Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.
--
George Bernard Shaw |
|
We must add our voices
to those who cry out that there is a standard below which we will not allow human
beings to live, and that that standard is not at the freezing nor starving point....In
a democracy all are responsible.
-- Hannah
Solomon | 
|
| *
Most of the poverty and misery in the world is due to bad government, lack of
democracy, weak states, internal strife, and so on.
-- George
Soros |
We
can no longer allow multi-nationalists to parade as agents of progress and democracy
in the newspapers, even as they subvert it at the workplace.
—John Sweeney
Democracy and
capitalism have very different beliefs about the proper distribution of power.
One believes in a completely equal distribution of political power, 'one man,
one vote', while the other believes that it is the duty of the economically fit
to drive the unfit out of business and into economic extinction. 'Survival of
the fittest' and inequalities in purchasing power is what capitalist efficiency
is all about. Individuals and firms become efficient to be rich. To put it in
its starkest form, capitalism is perfectly compatible with slavery. The American
South had such a system for more than two centuries. Democracy is not comparable
with slavery.
-- Lester Thurow
The
surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from
time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.
--
Alexis De Tocqueville
*
Democracy is constructed like an edifice, freedom by freedom, right by right,
until it reaches its snapping point.
-- Abdoulaye Wade |  |
| *
"You cannot have peace without human rights, democracy, gender equality, and clean
water. Look to the root causes of war and you will find, in their reverse, the
root foundations of peace."
-- Cora
Weiss |  |
| |
*
As free citizens in a political democracy, we have a responsibility to be interested
and involved in the affairs of the human community, be it at the local or the
global level.
-- Paul
Wellstone “There
are three critical ingredients to democratic renewal and progressive change in
America: good public policy, grassroots organizing and electoral politics.”
-- Paul Wellstone Education
and democracy have the same goal: the fullest possible development of human capabilities.
-- Paul Wellstone
|
|
*
Democracy is itself, a religious faith. For some it comes close to being the only
formal religion they have.
~ E.
B. White |  |
| |
I
still have great faith in democracy. I have great belief in the power of community.
~ Terry
Tempest Williams *
The human heart is the first home of democracy. It is where we embrace our questions:
Can we be equitable? Can we be generous? Can we listen with our whole beings,
not just our minds, and offer our attention rather than our opinion? And do we
have enough resolve in our hearts to act courageously, relentlessly, without giving
up, trusting our fellow citizens to join us in our determined pursuit—a living
democracy?
~ Terry
Tempest Williams |
We have to speak
out now on behalf of our community and on behalf of the land and say they're the
same thing and say "No, we are not rolling over" and "No, this is not a corporate
enterprise." This is democracy in the fullest sense and we must have regard and
reverence and those are the cornerstones of a just society.
~ Terry
Tempest Williams
I
feel like we are at a time of great creativity if we choose to embrace it as such,
if we choose to engage the will of our imaginations and imagine another way of
being in the world. Democracy requires our participation. The land trust movement
in this country is a beautiful example of how we can find hope within our own
communities because it bypasses government and creates a diverse and truly bipartisan
conversation on behalf of the land. We dare to define community to include all
life—rocks, rivers, plants, and animals, alongside human beings. Whether it is
the Castle Rock Collaboration in the red rock desert of southern Utah or the Blue
Hill Heritage Trust in coastal Maine, these small groups made up of neighbors
and friends from all walks of life are having an extraordinary influence on our
creation of an ethic of place. I believe radical change occurs through the care
of our relationships.
~ Terry
Tempest Williams
 |
*
"The whole purpose of democracy is that we may hold counsel with one another,
so as not to depend upon the understanding of one man."
-- Woodrow
Wilson |
| In
our so-called democracy we are accustomed to give the majority what they want
rather than educate them to understand what is best for them.
~Carter
Woodson |
|
A free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or
else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave
man to the machine and make him like it.
-- Frank
Lloyd Wright |
|
| *
I
have defended democracy, human rights, and brotherhood between peoples. And I’ll
keep doing so for as long as I live.
-- Leyla
Zana |  |
