We've been taught in America that big is best. That's why people have to believe that they must live in the greatest country in the world, which is absolutely idiotic.

Something is very, very wrong with American culture. The signs are everywhere. I think the country is in almost terminal descent.

I've never had any trouble opposing people I've been close to. I've never worried about offending or bothering people I feel strongly about.

I'm aware that because America is so powerful - with its tentacles reaching out to the world - one doesn't escape it by leaving. This is the most dangerous and disturbing time in my life.

The whole future of America's black community is at risk. One out of every three young black men in Washington, D.C., is under one arm or the other of the criminal justice system. These are the continuing consequences of slavery.

For anyone who is not white in America, the affronts are virtually across the board.

The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world: two million people. The country with one-twentieth of the world's population has one-fourth of those in prison.