Militancy and greed cannot become the defining images of a new century that began with much hope. We must refocus our energy on promoting the values of democracy, accountability, broad-based government, and institutions that can respond to people's very real and very urgent needs.
It is imperative that we continue the fight for peace on earth for the whole planet, because peace can only be achieved in this day and age if it is global peace. And justice can only be achieved if it is global justice.
Democracy has a simple rule. The social conscience. The citizen trumps the consumer. We, Milton Friedman, with his help, we've inverted that. Now, the consumer trumps the citizen...Which means a selfish, privatized, and, ultimately, corrupt society.
The fitful alternations of the rain, When the chill wind, languid as with pain Of its own heavy moisture, here and there Drives through the gray and beamless atmosphere.
Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don't quite know how to put our love into words.