Many of us spend half of our time wishing for things we could have if we didn't spend half our time wishing.
Alexander WoollcottRead
I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it.
Interpretation
Democracy requires active participation to function effectively.
Alexander Woollcott underscores the notion that democracy is not a self-sustaining system; rather, it demands involvement and effort from its citizens to thrive. The quote implies that citizens must actively engage in the democratic process, rather than criticizing it passively.
In practice
In a political rally to encourage voter turnout.
Many of us spend half of our time wishing for things we could have if we didn't spend half our time wishing.
The two oldest professions in the world β ruined by amateurs.
There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day.
I think, at the end of the day, especially for municipal elections, we see relatively low voter turnout. So the goal is to expand who sees themselves reflected in government, who's empowered to take the lead in politics.
The government is huge, stupid, greedy and makes nosy, officious and dangerous intrusions into the smallest corners of life - this much we can stand. But the real problem is that government is boring. We could cure or mitigate the other ills Washington visits on us if we could only bring ourselves to pay attention to Washington itself. But we cannot.
Let's be clear: Voter suppression is real.
The authority of the Supreme Court must not be permitted to control the Congress or the Executive when acting in their legislative capacities, but to have only such influence as the force of their reasoning may deserve.
Nicaragua dealt with the problem of terrorism in exactly the right way. It followed international law and treaty obligations. It collected evidence, brought the evidence to the highest existing tribunal, the International Court of Justice, and received a verdict - which, of course, the U.S. dismissed with contempt.
The military destabilised my government on politically motivated charges.
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