“In a democracy such as ours the leading minds seldom achieve a place of permanent influence. And the men who sit in Congress or even in the White House are usually not our leading minds. They are not the thinkers. Still less have they time for reflection.” MenMindStillsGovernmentHouseWhiteDemocracyInfluenceAchieveHe ManReflectionCongressPermanentWhite HouseThinker Book:My Several Worlds: A Personal Record Source: My Several Worlds: A Personal Record
“I do not think an enormous permanent underclass is a very good thing to have if you're attempting to operate something that at least pretends sometimes to be a democracy.” IfsThinkingSometimesDemocracyGood ThingsVery GoodEnormousPermanentAttempting Author:William Gibson
“The science of war leads one to dictatorship, pure and simple. The science of non-violence alone can lead one to pure democracy. Power based on love is thousand times more effective and permanent than power derived from fear of punishment. It is a blasphemy to say non-violence can be practiced only by individuals and never by nations which are composed of individuals. The nearest approach to purest anarchy would be a democracy based on non-violence. A society organized and run on the basis of complete non-violence would be the purest anarchy.” WarWould BeRunningIndividualNationsSimpleLove IsDemocracyViolenceThousandPureApproachBasesPunishmentPermanentOrganizedAnarchyDictatorshipNon ViolenceBlasphemy Author:Mahatma Gandhi
“My links with [Mahatma] Gandhi now are very political links because I do not believe there is any other politics available to us in the late twentieth century, a period of a totalitarianism linked with the market. There is really no other way you can do politics and create freedom for people without the kinds of instruments he revived. Civil disobedience is a way to create permanent democracy, perennial democracy, a direct democracy.” PeopleWayBelieveKindPoliticalCan DoDemocracyCenturyPeriodsLateDirectInstrumentsAvailablePermanentLinksLinkedTwentieth CenturyTotalitarianismDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceDirect Democracy Author:Vandana Shiva