Since 9/11, there has been a huge leap in people wanting to get personally involved in public service and international affairs.
Interpretation
The quote highlights a significant societal shift toward greater engagement in public service and global issues following 9/11.
Samantha Power emphasizes how the events of September 11, 2001, catalyzed a transformation in public consciousness, motivating individuals to take a more active role in addressing societal and international challenges. This indicates that crises can inspire a collective sense of responsibility and a desire to contribute positively to the world.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of volunteerism in a community.
Sanctions did indeed help to bring Iran to the negotiating table. But sanctions did not stop the advance of Iran's nuclear program. Negotiations have done that, and it is in our interest not to deny ourselves the chance to achieve a long-term, comprehensive solution that would deny Iran a nuclear weapon.
Zimbabweans are severely malnourished, and deaths from starvation occur even in the cities. The country has not yet suffered nationwide famine only because international donors have stepped in.
Western governments have generally tried to contain genocide by appeasing its architects. But the sad record of the last century shows that the walls the United States tries to build around genocidal societies almost inevitably shatter.
No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do.
When dictators feel their support slipping among adults, it is not unusual for them to alter school textbooks in the hope of enlisting impressionable youths in their cause.
Throughout history, when societies face tough economic times, we have seen democratic reforms deferred, decreased trust in government, persecution of minority groups, and a general shrinking of the democratic space.
Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.
Beginnings are sudden, but also insidious. They creep up on you sideways, they keep to the shadows, they lurk unrecognized. Then, later, they spring.
I represent a party which does not yet exist: the party Revolution-Civilization. This party will make the twentieth century. There will issue from it first the United States of Europe, then the United States of the World.
People have to understand that unless social enterprise is experimental, it will not succeed in making a difference.
I never want to change so much that people can't recognize me.
We can almost recycle everything now. If we lived within our means, by being prudent, the 7 billion people in the world could have everything they needed. Global politics should be moving in that direction. But we think as people and countries, not as a species.
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