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.

Creating a positive future begins in human conversation. The simplest and most powerful investment any member of a community or an organisation can make is to begin with other people as though the answers mattered.

Leaks and whispers are a daily routine of news-gathering in Washington.

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

The present struggle seems less about abolishing big government than about who gets to use it.

If one benefits tangibly from the exploitation of others who are weak, is one morally implicated in their predicament? Or are basic rights of human existence confined to the civilized societies that are wealthy enough to afford them? Our values are defined by what we will tolerate when it is done to others.