“Everybody has the right to speak up in a democracy. We would be in trouble as a society if there wasn't a constant pressure to make reforms and to be just. Sometimes as prime minister, when i was caught up in a really loud demonstration, I used to say to myself that I deserved it because of all the demonstrations I myself had organized as a student against Duplessis.” IfsSometimesWould BeUsedSpeakDemocracyTroubleStudentsPressureConstantCaughtReformLoudMinistersOrganizedPrimeCaught UpPrime MinisterDemonstration Author:Jean Chretien
“Because we don't have a Fairness Doctrine, and because we have further media consolidation, and because we have a craptastic corporate media, WE DON'T HAVE NEWS! We don't have an informed populous and we don't have a democracy... Everyone in the world knows that America, (in its current state, because of right-wingers) that the right wing arm of this country (that speaks for this country unfortunately) has no credibility when it comes to human rights or independent media.” KnowsWorldHumansCountryStatesAmericaSpeakDemocracyRightsMediaArmsNewsIndependentWingsHuman RightsCurrentsDoctrineCorporateFairnessCredibilityRight WingConsolidationIndependent Media Author:Janeane Garofalo
“Children aren't born with the techniques of democratic problem solving, but they are born with one of its key components - the desire to speak out...and that's where the struggle for democracy begins.” ChildrenProblemDesireSpeakStruggleDemocracyDemocraticProblem Solving Author:Patrick Watson
“Both love and democracy depend on voice -- having a voice and also the resonance that makes it possible to speak and be heard.” SpeakVoiceDemocracyHeardDependsResonance Author:Carol Gilligan
“I think it could be argued that I am not heard, in the broadest sense. That is not my concern. My concern, a question really, is, do I have the courage to speak? If I speak I believe someone will respond. It then becomes my responsibility to listen to that person. And in listening, together we create a space where people can be heard. It's the conversation that I care most deeply about; this is the space I want to honor, respect, and protect. This is my faith in the open space of democracy.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantBelievePersonsCareTogetherSpeakI BelieveSpaceResponsibilityDemocracyHeardListeningHonorProtectConversationConcernI CareOpen Spaces Author:Terry Tempest Williams
“To engage in civil disobedience is to feel the abundance of courage, the gratitude for a democracy that still invites us to speak from our hearts, to act from our conscience and have faith in the consequences of moral action. Abundance is a form of consciousness.” FeelsHeartStillsActionFormSpeakConsciousnessMoralDemocracyGratitudeConscienceConsequenceAbundanceHave FaithInvitesDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceMoral Action Author:Terry Tempest Williams
“There is a connection waiting to be made between the decline in democratic participation and the explosion in new ways of communicating. We need not accept the paradox that gives us more ways than ever to speak, and leaves the public with a wider feeling than ever before that their voices are not being heard. The new technologies can strengthen our democracy, by giving us greater opportunities than ever before for better transparency and a more responsive relationship between government and electors” WayNeedsGivingMadeFeelingsGovernmentOpportunityPoliticsSpeakWaitingVoiceAcceptingTechnologyDemocracyGreaterHeardInternetConnectionsDemocraticCommunicateParadoxDeclineNew WaysParticipationExplosionsTransparencyNew Technology Author:Robin Cook
“If I rule out violent anarchism, there remains pacifist, anti-nationalist, anti-capitalist, moral, and anti-democratic anarchism (i.e., that which is hostile to the falsified democracy of bourgeois states). There remains the anarchism which acts by means of persuasion, by the creation of small groups and networks, denouncing falsehood and oppression, aiming at a true overturning of authorities of all kinds as people at the bottom speak and organize themselves.” PeopleIfsKindMeanStatesSpeakMoralDemocracyGroupsCreationAuthorityRemainsDemocraticBottomViolentAll KindsOppressionCapitalistFalsehoodOrganizePersuasionHostileAnarchismBourgeoisSmall GroupsPacifist Author:Jacques Ellul
“John Kerry speaks French fluently. Democrats are saying he's one in a million. A war hero who speaks French, isn't it more like one in a trillion?” WarSpeakMillionsDemocracyHeroDemocratJohn KerryWar HeroSpeaks FrenchOne In A Million Author:Jay Leno
“How can we speak of Democracy or Freedom when from the very beginning of life we mould the child to undergo tyranny, to obey a dictator? How can we expect democracy when we have reared slaves? Real freedom begins at the beginning of life, not at the adult stage. These people who have been diminished in their powers, made short-sighted, devitalized by mental fatigue, whose bodies have become distorted, whose wills have been broken by elders who say: "your will must disappear and mine prevail!"-how can we expect them, when school-life is finished, to accept and use the rights of freedom?” PeopleChildrenHas BeensMadeRealUseBodySchoolLife IsSpeakAcceptingDemocracyRightsStageMinesBrokenAdultsSlaveFinishedDisappearTyrannyDictatorEldersFatigueMouldSchool LifeShort SightedReal FreedomBeginning Of Life Author:Maria Montessori
“Democracy to me is letting the other person speak and being dissenting without being disagreeable.” PersonsSpeakDemocracyDisagreeable Author:Malachy McCourt
“I'm still committed to the socialist idea because the socialist idea, correctly understood, includes the principles of freedom and social justice. It also includes the recognition of the value of democracy. When we speak about social justice, it means that freedom should be used not only in the interest of profit but also in the interest of the advancement of the people who create all values.” PeopleShouldMeanStillsIdeasUsedValuesSpeakSocialInterestJusticePrinciplesDemocracyUnderstoodSocial JusticeProfitCommittedRecognitionSocialistAdvancement Author:Mikhail Gorbachev