"Believing in people, the radical has the job of organizing people so that they will have the power and opportunity to best meet each unforeseeable future crisis as they move ahead to realize those values of equality, justice, freedom, the preciousness of human life...Democracy is not an end but the best means toward achieving these values," (Reveille for Radicals xiv).
This passage directly relates to my theories on principles and a principled life. More to the point, I believe those people living within a democratic system not living by these principles are hindering those others they come into contact with to reaching or sustaining their investments in them. Listening to a radio pundit like Rush Limbaugh I have found myself truly angered by his bias. I am not sure whether he intends to ever reach journalistic principles of balanced news but he seems to only give his listeners a constant slant. With such reporting going on (and he certainly is not the only media host with a slant), the consumer must be even more adept at finding the truth within all the sound bytes and techniques to keep you tuned in. The question is: how can consumers become more informed and thereby find an opinion of their own, without resorting to the news outlets with a political bend?
Our democracy depends on informed citizenry. Thus, we need people capable of reaching and maintaining ab 'informed' status and being capable of acting based on it. This is, of course, the free mind we were granted at birth. What we must all rely upon and really cherish is our free minds and look forward to developing our minds into a nourished home for millions upon millions of strange and beautiful ideas.
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