democratic communities
Nicholas Carr • The Myth of the Informed Citizen
The Myth of the Informed Citizen
Article
To some, the precariousness of the current moment seems frightening, and yet this uncertainty has always been there. The liberalism of John Stuart Mill, Thomas Jefferson, or Václav Havel never promised anything permanent. The checks and balances of Western constitutional democracies never guaranteed stability. Liberal democracies always demanded
... See moreAnne Applebaum • Twilight of Democracy
They wanted to build democracy in America on the basis of rational debate, reason, and compromise. But they had no illusions about human nature: They knew that men could sometimes succumb to “passions,” to use their old-fashioned word. They knew that any political system built on logic and rationality was always at risk from an outburst of the
... See moreAnne Applebaum • Twilight of Democracy
nytimes.com
“Gather together, find your footing and your story.” That is the advice I have been giving for two decades about how to stay out of shock during moments of collective trauma. Metabolize the shock together, I would tell people, create meaning together. Resist the tin-pot tyrants who will tell you that the world is now a blank sheet for them to write
... See moreNaomi Klein • Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World
