If there is a mystical chord in democracy, it probably revolves around the notion that unexpected music can resonate from politics when people are pursuing questions larger than self... I have seen that ennobling effect in people many, many times- expressed by those who found themselves engaged in genuine acts of democratic expression, who claimed their right to define the larger destiny of their community, their nations.

In its present terms, the global system values property over human life.

Democracy is held captive, not just by money, but by ideas - the ideas that money buys.

The problem of modern democracy is rooted in its neglect of unorganized people.

Democracy begins in human conversation. A democratic conversation does not require elaborate rules of procedure or utopian notions of perfect consensus. What it does require is a spirit of mutual respect-people conversing critically with one another in an atmosphere of honesty and shared regard.

If everyone has to be a watchdog in order to make government work, then the foxes will also volunteer to serve.

Efficiency obliterates identity