POWER
For
the economy I want workers and consumers to have control
over their own economic lives. I want everyone to have
fair conditions that fully utilize their talents and
potentials. I want incomes that accord with the efforts
people expend in their labors. I want what is produced,
by whom, under what conditions, and with who consuming
the result--all determined in accord with enhancing
human well-being and development and all decided by
the people involved and affected. I want an end to hierarchies
of power and wealth and to class division with most
actors subordinated to an elite few. To accomplish all
these ends I favor the institutions of participatory
economics -- worker and consumer councils, remuneration
for effort and sacrifice, balanced job complexes, and
participatory planning. If someone should demonstrate
that those institutions somehow fail to accomplish necessary
economic functions or have social or personal by-products
that outweigh their benefits -- I would simply return
to the drawing board. Exploitation, alienation, poverty,
disempowerment, fragmenting and debilitating labor,
production for the profit of a few -- much less harsh
homelessness, starvation, and degradation -- are not
like gravity. They arise from institutional relations
established by human beings. New institutions, also
established by human beings, can generate other vastly
superior outcomes. Defining and working to attain those
new institutions ought to be our economic agenda.
-- Michael Albert |
|
Anybody
can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with
the right person, and to the right degree, and at the
right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right
way, that is not within everybody's power, that is not
easy.
-- Aristotle
(384-322 BC) |
...ordinary
men and women may often feel unmotivated to exert
their citizenship, either because they cannot tell
the difference between the different alternatives,
or because they have lost faith in the political
classes, or because they feel that the really important
issues are not in their power to decide.
-- Patricio
Aylwin Azócar
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"A
century that began with children having virtually
no rights is ending with children having the most
powerful legal instrument that not only recognizes
but protects their human rights."
--
Carol
Bellamy
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"The
power of a movement lies in the fact that it can indeed
change the habits of people. This change is not the
result of force but of dedication, of moral persuasion.
"
-- Stephen
Biko
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Democracy
is the ultimate, positive revolution because it gives
each and every individual the power to control their
lives. And we can work together to create a just,
sustainable world.
-- Bill Blackman
Why
are we so zealous, then, about the private sector?
We persist in designating a large part of the economy
as private so that we can disavow public responsibility
for its evils and claim individual merit for its blessings.
As a civic body, we are reluctant to countenance and
cure the deprivations of the poor, the damage to the
environment, and the trivialization of culture that
are the depressing concomitants of our advanced industrial
economy. At the same time applauding the rich and
powerful who claim their privileges as the fruits
of their rugged and individual efforts, we sanction
our positions and our aspirations
-- Albert Borgmann
|
“There
is no level playing field. Any time our society says
that a powerful chemical company has the same right
as a low income family that's living next door, that
playing field is not level, is not fair.”
-- Robert
Bullard
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*
"School feeding is a great tool to encourage education
and provide food aid to children born into extremely
impoverished situations. The kids in school being fed
by WFP are empowered by their school meal to learn and
better their lives!"
-- Lauren
Bush |
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"I
am no longer cursed by poverty because I took possession
of my own mind, and that mind has yielded me every
material thing I want, and much more than I need.
But this power of mind is a universal one, available
to the humblest person as it is to the greatest."
~ Andrew
Carnegie
|
Then
all that has divided us will merge
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and
unkind
And then both men and women will be gentle
And then both women and men will be strong
And then no person will be subject to another's will
And then all will be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of
many
And then all will share equally in the earth's abundance
And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the
old
And then all will nourish the young
And then all will cherish life's creatures
And then all will live in harmony with each other and with
the earth
And everywhere will be called Eden, once again.
-- Judy Chicago
What
is called 'capitalism'is basically a system of corporate
mercantilism, with huge and largely unaccountable
private tyrannies exercising vast control over the
economy, political systems, and social and cultural
life, operating in close cooperation with powerful
states that intervene massively in the domestic
economy and international society. -- Noam
Chomsky
The
real world of American society is one which it is
very misleading to call simply a democracy. Of course,
it is in a sense a democracy, but it is one in which
there are enormous inequities in the distribution
of power and force. For example, the entire commercial
and industrial system is in principle excluded from
the democratic process, including everything that
goes on within it -- Noam
Chomsky
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"Asked
about the power of advertising in research surveys, most
agree that it works, but not on them."
-- Eric Clark
"For
most of recorded history, parental violence against
children and men's violence against wives was explicitly
or implicitly condoned. Those who had the power
to prevent and/or punish this violence through religion,
law, or custom, openly or tacitly approved it. …..The
reason violence against women and children is finally
out in the open is that activists have brought it
to global attention."
-- Riane
Eisler
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"From
the pain come the dream
From
the dream come the vision
From
the vision come the people
From
the people come the power
From
this power come the change"
--
Peter Gabriel
|
Non-cooperation
is an attempt to awaken the masses, to a sense of
their dignity and power. This can only be done by
enabling them to realize that they need not fear brute
force, if they would but know the soul within.”
-- Mohandas
K. Gandhi
|
*
...convince
all nuclear powers, including those which have been
more reluctant up to now, of the necessity to respect
the "vital interests" of all peoples and to become
fully aware of the profound truth of the following
conclusion which the United Nations approved by unanimity
four years ago: "Mankind is confronted with a choice:
we must halt the arms race and proceed to disarmament
or face annihilation".
~ Alfonso
García Robles
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"I
just have this absolute belief that humans are moving
away from cruelty and destruction towards a time when
we can truly live in harmony with nature. When we
understand that there is a spiritual power around
us from which we can draw strength. That is where
I believe human destiny ultimately is taking us. I
just hope we have time."
~ Jane
Goodall
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Journalism
is the only profession explicitly protected by the
U.S. Constitution, because journalists are supposed
to be the check and balance on government. We're supposed
to be holding those in power accountable. We're not
supposed to be their megaphone. That's what the corporate
media have become.
-- Amy
Goodman
|
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A
balance of interests rather than a balance of power,
a search for compromise and concord rather than a
search for advantages at other people's expense, and
respect for equality rather than claims to leadership
- such are the elements which can provide the groundwork
for world progress…
~ Mikhail
Gorbachev
|
So
long as private corporations remain the dominant production
institution of society, no matter who is in power,
the long-run trend in society will be to promote the
corporate interest.
-- Michael
Harrington
|
I would like to appeal to all those in whose hands
the future of mankind lies, to use their power not
to destroy or kill, nor to create suffering in a grasping
search for selfish objectives, but to help alleviate
the plight of the needy; to aim at justice and freedom
for the individual.
-- Poul
Hartling
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People
often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,'
and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty
is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers
us to find beauty in places where others have not dared
to look, including inside ourselves.
-- Salma Hayek |
|
Don't
wait for anyone to deputize you or authorize you or
empower you. You have to just start out with yourself...and
put one foot in front of the other.
-- Hazel
Henderson
|
...the
fullest development of the highest powers of men can
be achieved only in a world of peace.
-- Robert
Maynard Hutchins |
|
*"I
was very fortunate to have learned the transforming
power of music early in life. As an adult I want
to share that power by inspiring people to care
about their neighbors near and far. Being a UNICEF
Ambassador allows me this kind of opportunity."
--
India.Arie
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I
know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of
society but people. And if we think them not enlightened
enough, the remedy is not to take the power from them,
but to inform them by education.
-- Thomas
Jefferson
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Our
goal is to empower as many people as possible to take
simple, effective actions in their daily lives that
will make the world a more just and sustainable place.
-- Ellis
Jones
|
*
"I believe deeply that children are more powerful than
oil, more beautiful than rivers, more precious than
any other natural resource a country can have. I feel
that the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my
life is to be associated with UNICEF."
-- Danny
Kaye |
|
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*
The message of our campaign is "Make every mother
and child count". This campaign is not just about
health. It is also a powerful call for radical progress
in women's rights and the rights of their children.
Too often, the health of mothers and children does
not count. In too many parts of the world, they are
forgotten.
-- Liya
Kebede
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*
if we wish to accomplish in the next 15 years what
we failed to accomplish in the last 15, we would
do well to focus on democratizing structures of
power. That means imagining, and then creating,
economic democracy.
-- Marjorie
Kelly
|
When you
do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless.
But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and
accomplishment
that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.
-- Pauline R. Kezer
*
We
must recognize that we can't solve our problems now
until there is a radical redistribution of economic
and political power... a radical restructuring of
the architecture of American society.
--
Martin
Luther King, Jr
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“I
write books to change the world. Perhaps I can only
change one little piece of that world. But if I can
empower teachers and good citizens to give these children,
who are the poorest of the poor, the same opportunity
we give our own kids, then I'll feel my life has been
worth it.”
-- Jonathan
Kozol
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“Politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth."
-- Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize-winning economist)
|
*
Let us today seek to find that place within each of
us where dreams are made, where our highest aspirations
take shape. Let us confirm the power of our humanity
by giving architecture and substance to the dreams we
have for our nation, so that the promised land of social
and economic justice that is within our dreams will
soon be within our sight.
-- Dennis
Kucinich |
*
"No society has fulfilled its democratic promise if
people go hungry... If some go without food they have
surely been deprived of all power. The existence of
hunger belies the existence of democracy."
--
Frances
Moore Lappe
|
|
*
"This
focus on money and power may do wonders in the marketplace,
but it creates a tremendous crisis in our society.
People who have spent all day learning how to sell
themselves and to manipulate others are in no position
to form lasting friendships or intimate relationships...
Many Americans hunger for a different kind of society
-- one based on principles of caring, ethical and
spiritual sensitivity, and communal solidarity. Their
need for meaning is just as intense as their need
for economic security."
-- Michael
Lerner
|
|
I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration
that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins
of power, I have lost every other friend on earth,
I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend
shall be down inside me.
-- Abraham
Lincoln
Nearly
all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test
a man's character, give him power. -- Abraham
Lincoln
|
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*
"Every
one of us can make a contribution. And quite often
we are looking for the big things and forget that,
wherever we are, we can make a contribution... just
imagine what's happening if there are billions of
people out there doing something. Just imagine the
power of what we can do."
~ Wangari
Maathai
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Education
is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change
the world.
-- Nelson
Mandela
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*
“We
need artists to help us come together and share our
voices and build community around powerful issues concerning
our roles in the world and our planet’s survival. Compassion
must be translated into action.”
-- Natasha
Mayers |
|
The
students I've been with these twenty years are looking
for a world where it becomes a little easier to
love and a lot harder to hate, where learning nonviolence
means that we dedicate our hearts, minds, time,
and money to a commitment that the force of love,
the force of truth, the force of justice, and the
force of organized resistance to corrupt power are
seen as sane and the force of fists, guns, armies,
and bombs insane.
-- Colman
McCarthy
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*
"We are way more powerful when we turn to each other
and not on each other, when we celebrate our diversity,
focus on our commonality, and together tear down the
mighty walls of injustice."
-- Cynthia
McKinney
|
"I
think that the celebrity is a really important thing,
because we have the voice that's recognizable, that
can educate people to make a difference and empower
them to make a difference, and to also get things
in motion with the people in charge that can effect
change."
-- Alyssa
Milano
|
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“Use
every letter you write, every conversation you have,
every meeting you attend, to express your fundamental
beliefs and dreams. Affirm to others the vision of
the world you want. You are a free, immensely powerful
source of life and goodness. Affirm it. Spread it.
Radiate it. Think day and night about it and you will
see a miracle happen: the greatness of your own life.”
--
Robert
Muller
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“A
leader has the vision and conviction that a dream
can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy
to get it done.”
-- Ralph
Nader
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Nothing
can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices
calling for change.
-- Barack
Obama
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Is
it not the interest of the human race, that every
one should be so taught and placed, that he would
find his highest enjoyment to arise from the continued
practice of doing all in his power to promote the
well-being, and happiness, of every man, woman, and
child, without regard to their class, sect, party,
country or colour"
-- Robert
Owen
|
"Believe
in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without
a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers
you cannot be successful or happy. Formulate and stamp
indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself
as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never
permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop
the picture. Do not build obstacles in your imagination.
Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy
them. Nobody can be you as efficiently as you can."
-- Norman Vincent Peale
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*
Small loans can transform lives, especially the lives
of women and children. The poor can become empowered
instead of disenfranchised. Homes can be built, jobs
can be created, businesses can be launched, and individuals
can feel a sense of worth again.
-- Natalie
Portman
|
"Of
all of the forces that make for a better world, none is
so indispensable, none so powerful as hope"
-- Charles Sawyer
|
*
"The primary threat to nature and people today comes
from centralising and monopolising power and control.
Not until diversity is made the logic of production
will there be a chance for sustainability, justice
and peace. Cultivating and conserving diversity is
no luxury in our times: it is a survival imperative."
~ Vandana
Shiva
*
Uniformity
is not nature's way; diversity is nature's way.
~ Vandana
Shiva
|
In
our hectic, fast-paced, consumer-driven society, it's
common to feel overwhelmed, isolated and alone. Many
are re-discovering the healing and empowering role
that community can bring to our lives. The sense of
belonging we feel when we make the time to take an
active role in our communities can give us a deeper
sense of meaning and purpose.
-- Robert
Alan Silverstein
|
|
However
sugarcoated and ambiguous, every form of authoritarianism
must start with a belief in some group's greater right
to power, whether that right is justified by sex, race,
class, religion, or all four. However far it may expand,
the progression inevitably rests on unequal power and
airtight roles within the family.
-- Gloria
Steinem |
|
“Reverence
awakens in the soul a sympathetic power through which
we attract qualities in the beings around us, which
would otherwise remain concealed.”
-- Rudolf
Steiner
|
|
"Yes,
I want to remind people that in the Indigenous Traditions,
women are very important. Not because we are told
we are important but because we know that since forever
and always, we have had the power and the capacity
to give birth, raise women and men and to take care
of the earth. It is today that I thusly give celebration
to all the women on Earth. I would like to ask my
sisters to give up the thoughts and actions of the
word victim. We are no longer Victims & We are strong!
I would like to address an acknowledgement to each
woman here today. We have the power and that power
is rising. Use it to preserve, teach, share, and raise
our voices, to save our children, our planet, our
people, and our earth mother. Don't share the things
that have hurt us but share what can save us. Turn
our scars into Stars! Come together and reclaim what
is inherently ours, the power to bring forth nurturing
Peace! May Peace Prevail!"
-- Mary
Thunder
|
|
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"I've
seen miracles in post-war situations, in famines,
in places of horrendous brutal subjugation and oppression,
when women step forward and play their rightful role
in co-equal partnership with men. It's not the answer
all by itself, but it is a powerful and incredibly
effective step to give women their rightful role and
voice and the resources to back it up."
-- Lynne
Twist
|
Whether
sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart
the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite
of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In
the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless
station; so long as it receives messages of beauty,
hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the
infinite, so long are you young.
-- Samuel Ullman |
In
our hectic, fast-paced, consumer-driven society, it's
common to feel overwhelmed, isolated and alone. Many
are re-discovering the healing and empowering role
that community can bring to our lives. The sense of
belonging we feel when we make the time to take an
active role in our communities can give us a deeper
sense of meaning and purpose.
-- Robert
Alan Silverstein
|
|
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"When
you have no real power, go public - really public.
The public is where the real power is."
~ Elizabeth
Warren
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Facebook.com/runwarrenrun2016
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I
still have great faith in democracy. I have great
belief in the power of community.
~
Terry
Tempest Williams
|
|
*
The
Department of Peace would take a more human approach
to healing our society, looking not merely for ways
we can destroy an enemy, but for more powerful ways
to create new friends. While the State Department
engages in international diplomacy, there is no domestic
parallel. There is no department seeking to harness
the power of a nonviolent heart.
-- Marianne
Williamson
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