Political activism is not failing because people are too busy watching cat videos online, but because of a fundamental collapse of citizen leverage on institutions of power like governments and corporations.
Zeynep TufekciRead
It's not speech per se that allows democracies to function, but the ability to agree - eventually, at least some of the time - on what is true, what is important and what serves the public good. This doesn't mean everyone must agree on every fact, or that our priorities are necessarily uniform.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Democracies thrive on the collective agreement about truth and public good, rather than mere speech.
This quote emphasizes that a functioning democracy requires not just the freedom to speak, but the capacity for citizens to come together and reach a consensus on what is true and beneficial for society. It acknowledges the complexity of differing opinions while highlighting the importance of shared values and truths in achieving democratic cohesion.
Themes
DemocracyTruthPublic GoodAgreementSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion panel about the role of discourse in democracy.
More from Zeynep Tufekci
All quotes →Given exponential growth dynamics of infectious diseases, containing an epidemic is straightforward early on, but nearly impossible once a disease spreads among a population.
Zeynep TufekciRead
Remember, the Internet did not create freedom of speech; in theory, we always had freedom of speech - it's just that it often went along with the freedom to be ignored. People had no access to the infrastructure to be heard.
Zeynep TufekciRead
Attention, to a terrorist group, is often what the well-meaning, outraged response is to your two-bit Internet troll: it is the food that feeds them.
Zeynep TufekciRead
Much of what ails our modern life is exactly because we reduce the value of a human being to a number, say salary or consumer power.
Zeynep TufekciRead
You might be tempted to think that China has a Streisand-effect problem, in which trying to censor an event creates even more publicity. But that assumes the Chinese government doesn't understand the Streisand effect, and that can't be right, because if one government understands attention dynamics online, it's China's.
Zeynep TufekciRead
Similar quotes
Ponder the significance of the responsibility the Lord has given to us. The Lord has counseled, "Let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds." (D&C 43:34.) You cannot do that when your minds are preoccupied with the cares of the world.
Ezra Taft BensonRead
When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find himself a good and sufficient reason for going.
John SteinbeckRead
A thief is a man in need. A liar is a man in fear.
Khalil GibranRead
People call you this or that. But I can't respond because then it seems like I'm defensive, you know, what does it matter, really?
Bob DylanRead
If you keep having to dip into the story's past to explain the present, then there's a good chance your real story's in the past, and you're just using the present as a vehicle to deliver us there.
Stephen Graham JonesRead
If one was to think constantly of death, the business of life would stand still
Samuel JohnsonRead