#demo

In the world at large we seldom vote for a principle or a given state of affairs. We vote for a man who pretends to believe in that principle or promises to achieve that state. We don't want a man, we want a condition of peace and plenty-- or, it may be, war and want-- but we must vote for a man. ↗

— B.F. Skinner

#leadership #suffrage #leadership

[The Internet] affects democracy... As more and more citizens express what they think, and defend it in writing, that will change the way people understand public issues. It is easy to be wrong and misguided in your head. It is harder when the product of your mind can be criticized by others. Of course, it is a rare human who admits that he has been persuaded that he is wrong. But it is even rarer for a human to ignore when he has been proven wrong. The writing of ideas, arguments, and criticism improves democracy. ↗

— Lawrence Lessig

#ideas #internet #open-government #writing #change

To be sure, debates will linger about whether Medicare is too large or too small. Debates remain about the allocation of Medicare dollars. But December 8, 2003, demonstrated that there is no debate about this most fundamental fact: Medicare must survive. ↗

— Michael Johns

#allocation #debate #debates #december #demonstrated

Congress is functioning the way the Founding Fathers intended-not very well. They understood that if you move too quickly, our democracy will be less responsible to the majority. ↗

— Barber Conable

#democracy #fathers #founding #founding fathers #functioning

In Venice in the Middle Ages there was once a profession for a man called a codega--a fellow you hired to walk in front of you at night with a lit lantern, showing you the way, scaring off thieves and demons, bringing you confidence and protection through the dark streets. ↗

— Elizabeth Gilbert

#protection #thieves #age

Uh, do you mind?" I glanced down and saw something far scarier than any demon. A guy. My age. And I was on top of him. Straddling his hips. Oh, jeez. ↗

— A&E Kirk

#age

The race will find that capitalists and communists modify themselves so much during the ages that they end by being indistinguishable as democrats... ↗

— T.H. White

#communism #democrats #humor #politics #age

If political rights are necessary to set social rights in place, social rights are indispensable to make political rights 'real' and keep them in operation. The two rights need each other for their survival; that survival can only be their joint achievement. ↗

— Zygmunt Bauman

#social #social-rights #age

If your party serves the powerful and well-funded interests, and there's no limit to what you can spend, you have a permanent, structural advantage. We're averaging fifty-dollar checks in our campaign, and trying to ward off these seven- or eight-figure checks on the other side. That disparity is pretty striking, and so are the implications. In many ways, we're back in the Gilded Age. We have robber barons buying the government. ↗

— David Axelrod

#democrats #donations #fund-raising #gilded-age #government

Until Americans stop getting distracted by the Republicans v/s Democrats melodrama, America will move forward towards war, empire & eventually collapse. ↗

— Ziad K. Abdelnour

#republicans #age